Devil May Cry: Full Circle
by Sin Oan
Summary: Sequel to End of the Line. Lady returns from vacation and is recruited by some old friends into a Government Agency to combat a new and deadly threat. She soon learns however that Uroboros is responsible, and has something sinister planned ...
1. Chapter 1

Here it is, my new fic! Or at least the first chapter anyway. This is a sequel to my previous DMC fic, The End of the Line, and is a Lady centred story with no Dante in it. The first few chapters are a flashback, told by Lady detailing an important event in her past. After that it zips back to the present, which is a few months after the end of my last story. I hope you enjoy it. Will update as soon as I can.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_Part I_

_My name is Lady. It used to be Mary – that was the name my father gave me. I loved my father, just as I loved my mother. We were a normal happy family (Which, granted isn't that normal now I think about it). One night however, everything changed. It was a night that will stay with me for the rest of my life and, try as I might, I can never forget the terrible events that transpired on that fateful eve. I learned a horrifying truth that would turn my world upside down, and start me down the path my life now follows._

_It all began on Halloween, of all nights. Ironic, really. All Hallows Eve – the one night when monsters and demons are said to have the chance to roam free. Chance, however, had nothing to do with the events that would occur this night …_

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Mary finished the last touches of her makeup and stared critically at herself in the mirror. At just 15 years old she was very self-conscious, and was never satisfied no matter how hard she tried to do herself up.

Still, she thought, she wouldn't be 15 for much longer … tomorrow was her birthday after all. 16, a big change. Or so all her friends insisted on telling her.

She glanced at her watch, then at her alarm clock to double check. They both informed her that the time was 9:55PM. She was supposed to meet her friends at a car park down the street in five minutes. It was Halloween, and they were going ghost hunting … she smiled at the thought. It was certainly the right night for it, at any rate. It was a full moon in a cloudless, starry sky. A damp, eerie mist hung in the air like some old Hammer Horror movie with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

She glanced at the mirror again and sighed. Of course, a scary costume wasn't practical for climbing about in a supposedly haunted cave, and so she was wearing her normal jeans, shirt and denim jacket. Pity, really, she had been looking forwards to trying out her Devil outfit – kinky tail and all.

She strolled across her untidy bedroom floor (She was normally quite a neat person, until her friends teased her about it. Evidently tidying up after yourself was just not cool …) and lifted her window up. She supposed she could just leave via the front door – her father was tucked away in his musty old study and her mother was out getting candy for the Trick or Treater's.

But Mary was a rebel at heart (Or so she liked to think of herself) and so no self respecting rebel teen would _dream_ of sneaking out of their house through the _front door_. There were rules. A certain amount of style had to be maintained.

A quick climb down some ivy and a drop a few feet from the ground, and she found herself in the garden at the back of her creepy old home. It was all Victorian gothic architecture, something that was quite the rage a few decades back. Still, it was very big and sufficiently impressed her friends whenever they visited. They said it was like something from House on Haunted hill or The Haunting.

A few minutes later and she was walking passed rows of dimly lit cars and trucks. She glanced at her watch. 10:03PM. They should be here by now. She would finish checking the car park out and then –

"GYYYAAARRRGGHHHH!"

Mary gasped and staggered back away from the terrifying apparition; white, pallid skin, a wide screaming hole for a mouth, dark empty eyes. Swathed in black cloth, it reached out for her with grasping hands. She tripped and fell painfully on her ass, trainers scrabbling to push her away from it.

Suddenly there was laughter. Heart still racing, Mary watched in shock as the terrible creature reached up and pulled off its face.

"HA! Can't believe that worked!" Exclaimed Andy Johnson, as the Scream mask came away and his boyish face sniggered down at her.

"Oh cut it out you jerk." That was Sarah Johnson, his sister. She knelt down and helped Mary up, curtains of dark hair falling across one side of her face as she flashed an annoyed look at her grinning brother.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack you idiot!" Mary snapped at him, turning red with angry humiliation. Andy opened his mouth to tell her it was just some fun, when he was grabbed in a headlock by a guy about a year older than him, wearing a black leather jacket and sporting slicked back, blond hair.

"You heard the lady Andy, you almost frightened her to death!" said Jack Harper, only the hottest bad boy in school (At least as far as Mary was concerned). "Want me to teach him a lesson?" He asked her, yanking a protesting Andy around in circles.

Mary shook her head. "Just give him a good kick and tell him not to do it again."

Andy yelped and spun away, rubbing his sore backside and muttering under his breath.

"Hey guys, are you gonna horse around all night or are we gonna get this show on the road?" That condescending tone coming from none other than the officially Holier-Than-Thou self-proclaimed Witch, Maia Sanders, flicking her golden locks back in a way reminiscent of those women on Television who advertise the latest hair-dye. Now that she thought about it, Mary supposed she had dyed her hair. Her eyebrows did seem darker than the rest of her hair.

Snapping off a salute, Jack hustled everyone around into a tight circle as Maia crossed her arms and spent several seconds glaring at everyone, as if to remind them of the seriousness of tonight's little adventure.

"Now, I of course assume you are all aware of what night it is tonight?" She asked. Andy nodded.

"Why darn it missy, I does think it be Halloween! Spoooooky don cha think?" He bawled in his best country hick impression. Jack reached over and smacked him across the back of the head. Maia pretended not to notice the entire thing.

"I have done some digging into the history of this quaint little town," She went on. "It seems there used to be a cult some years back. The Order of Baphomet, or something similar, who did all their big rituals on this night."

"Devil worshipers?" Mary asked. Maia thought for a second and then nodded.

"I suppose so. It was said they used to summon up Demons from the Underworld and send them after the townspeople who they particularly disliked. Anyway, they used to conduct their rituals in a network of caves not far outside of town."

"Why hasn't someone checked it out before now?" Sarah asked, rubbing her arms for warmth. In her effort to dress attractively, she had neglected to wear anything that might provide any warmth and was paying for it.

"The caves are unstable now. People aren't allowed in because it's dangerous, but there's no actual security or anything. The threat of a cave in and the place's reputation has been enough to keep people away – until now."

"Reputation?" Said Mary.

"The usual riff." Said Maia dismissively. "Strange lights, wailing sounds, screams of the dead. Pretty standard affair for gossip and hearsay. Personally, I doubt the place is haunted at all, but if we can find the old cults lair, they might have left behind a few … trinkets."

"Valuable stuff?" Andy asked thoughtfully. Mary could practically see the dollar signs 'Caching!' –ing behind his eyes. Maia gave him a scathing look.

"No doubt, but I was thinking more in terms of occult power. With some of the 'toys' this order was said to have, I could really _do_ something."

"Anyway," broke in Jack, clapping his hands together. "What better night to check out some haunted caves than on Halloween?" This got a chorus of 'Here-Here!'.

It was decided then. They were going Ghost Hunting in some ancient haunted caves that were used by an evil cult of Demon Worshipers. Mary grinned. It sounded like one hell of a fun night before her 16th birthday.

If only she had an inkling of what she would find there …


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2. A bit lengthy, sorry about that. Oh, and for all you Dante fans, I'm thinking of doing a trilogy. If I ever get round to it, I'll write another fic after this one, which will feature the return of Dante and Vergil. In the meantime I hope you all enjoy this one.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART II_

It was just a half-hour drive out of town before they got to where they were going. Mary sat in back next to Sarah. Jack was driving and Andy riding shotgun. He flipped through the music tracks on the car CD player until he found something suitably loud, and cranked the volume up.

"Turn that down." Maia instructed. "In case you forgot, the caves are off-limits. People aren't allowed near them and the last thing we need is to get pulled over by some cops wanting to know what we're up to."

Reluctantly, Andy turned the volume down, grumbling under his breath. The rest of the journey passed without incident. It wasn't long before the car was bouncing roughly down a beaten trail off the main road. Less than five minutes of bone jarring thuds later, and they arrived.

"Welcome to ye olde haunted caves." Said Jack, slamming the car door shut and striding forwards to examine the dank and foreboding cave entrance. "Population: Us." He stopped. Someone had, without much enthusiasm, sealed the entrance off with yellow tape. Several years accumulated grime and moisture had faded and wilted it, so that all that remained were a few scraps of dangling plastic.

There was a Thunk as Maia slammed the car boot shut and strode towards the rest of the group, arms bulging. She handed everyone a flashlight and a whistle. "Blow on this if you get separated and run into trouble." She explained to their puzzled expressions.

The caves were high enough to walk through without having to bend over. In fact, in certain places the limestone seemed to have been purposely carved.

"Someone probably found these naturally formed caves and tunnelled through them for easier access." Said Maia, as the cold white beams of their flashlights played across dark green and black stone.

Due to this little fact, the going was surprisingly easy. Mary had expected to have to clamber over loose shale and jagged ridges. As it was, a five year old could have traversed this place.

"It doesn't seem unstable or dangerous at all." She observed. Jack stopped in front of her and turned. He flicked his torch at the ceiling over her head, staring up at it thoughtfully.

"You're right. I wonder if the whole 'unstable' thing was just a rumour started to keep people out of here."

"People who didn't buy into the whole haunted thing, you mean?" She asked. He nodded and continued on.

The passage split several times. Maia marked their progress on the walls with some kind of luminous chalk. Even so, the turnings and offshoots were dizzying and disorienting. Mary was just about to suggest they call it a night and head back, when they stumbled across a fairly large chamber, big enough for them all to stand in with room to spare.

"My gods, its true …" Maia breathed. Mary frowned and turned to her. She was staring at the far wall of the chamber. She followed her gaze, along with everyone else, and her eyes widened in surprise.

The far wall bore a huge, elaborate metal symbol. It was definitely occult, Mary had seen many similar in her fathers books. She strode forwards, cutting across the beams of her friends flashlights as she examined it closer. The whole thing was a giant pentagram filled with glowing runes.

"This is -" Maia started to say, before Mary interrupted her.

"It's the Sigil of Baphoment, the official signia of the Church of Satan." She said. "A demoness known as the Satanic Mistress of Blood." Maia snapped her head around and gaped at her.

"How do _you_ know that?" She asked, in a put upon tone of voice.

"My dad is really into this kind of thing." She said, craning her neck upwards – it was nearly seven or eight feet high, the metal work perfectly crafted and flawless.

"Urgh, creepy." Said Sarah, staring at it as if it was a spider skittering across the floor. "C'mon, lets get going."

They pressed on, stopping only so that Maia could mark another arrow on the walls. After another few minutes, Jack stopped and signalled for them all to be quiet.

"What?" Said Andy. "I don't hear anything."

"Shut up!" Jack hissed, straining to listen. They all fell silent, and after a few seconds they all heard it – a low humming, like a kind of soft music heard from several rooms away. "It's coming from that direction." He said, pointing down a passageway to their left.

As they followed the sound, they found themselves passing through some kind of antechamber. On either side were two large statues of demonic looking figures, holding bronze basins filled with burning oil, which cast a soft orange glow.

"Amazing." Murmured Maia. Mary however was not impressed. In fact she was downright unnerved. There was something in the air, something … not quite right about the atmosphere. She shook her head and put it down to being in stale underground tunnels.

The sound led them down a definitely carved flight of steps, into a new section of the caves that were much more finely cut than the tunnels they had passed before. This area was filled with burning braziers and light bearing statues – so much so that they no longer needed their flashlights.

The smooth stone walls were hung with crimson tapestries depicting gruesome images of demon and human pairings that failed to even extract a lewd comment from Andy, who would usually jump at the chance to make crude jokes.

"Ok guys, this place is seriously creeping me out." Said Sarah, trying to keep the edge of panic out of her voice and failing quite spectacularly.

"Umm, I hate to bring this up," Said Jack, stopping and glancing around nervously. "Call me Mr. Obvious if you like, but … who do you suppose lit all of these things?" He gestured at a gently burning brazier. Everyone shifted uncomfortably.

"I think …" Maia started to say, when an eerie metallic wail swept through the passage they were in. Mary didn't know how the rest felt, but judging by the alarmed and frightened expressions around her they were each having their blood chilled and hairs standing on end in much the same way as her.

"That's _it_, I am outta here!" Sarah squeaked after the sound faded. She turned tail and ran back the way they had come. The rest of them stood in nervous silence, trying not to look each other in the eye.

"There it is again." Said Jack, frowning. "That humming … wait, is that … chanting?"

They listened grimly, and Mary was forced to admit that it did indeed sound like many human voices singing in unison. It was not, altogether, an especially pleasant sound.

"Right, I'm going to find out just what the heck is going on." Said Maia firmly. Holding her head high, she strode confidently past them and headed in the direction of the chanting. "You can come with, or run crying after Sarah." She called to them over her shoulder. "Your choice."

They watched her disappear around a corner. After a few seconds of silence, they reached an unspoken agreement and set off after her. They saw her disappearing up a circular staircase and, pausing only briefly to give each other worried looks, followed.

"Bloody hellfire." They heard Maia from above. Andy, in front, reached the top before Jack and Mary, and they heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Jesus H. Christ!" He hissed.

Mary was last. She reached the top and found them all crowding upon a semi-circle balcony overlooking an _enormous_ hall below. It was breathtaking; At least twenty feet high (She realised the caves must extend into the hills near the entrance they had found) lit by enormous bronze basins and jars filled with burning oil, the glossy tiled floor carpeted in rich crimson, adorned with gold sigils. Great pillars of sandstone stretched up to the roof, and against the far wall, a simply _giant_ statue of Baphomet dominated the hall, its ruby eyes glinting malevolently down upon dozens of black-robed people.

"The cult, th-the order of …" Maia stuttered, watching amazed the rows of people who surrounded a decorative bronze altar in the centre of the huge chamber.

Mary stared open mouthed, as the lead figure, wearing slightly richer and more decorative robes, stepped forwards and pulled a long curved knife from his sleeve. He advanced upon the altar, and Mary realised that someone was _chained_ to the thing! She could see them squirming under a red silk covering.

"Holy crap, this must be some kind of human sacrifice." Jack whispered, not taking his eyes off the unbelievable scene below. The whole thing was fast becoming surreal. It was as if they had all stepped into some bad horror flick.

The lead figure reached the altar and tugged away the cover. Mary gasped and threw her hands up to her mouth, wincing in pain as she bit her tongue to keep from crying out.

The poor soul chained to the altar was unmistakable. It was her mother. Kalina.

The sinister, knife wielding cultist reached up with his free hand and drew his hood back. Mary's heart skipped a beat and her legs felt numb.

"Let us begin." Said her father, Arkham, gazing down upon the terrified face of his loving wife, who struggled to scream through her gag.

Jack, Andy and Maia all turned and stared, gaping at her. Mary stood, rooted to the spot, still biting down on her tongue and clasping her hands to her mouth.

She lowered her hands, opened her mouth and screamed.


	3. Chapter 3

Arrgh. Sorry about the spelling errors and such. I swear, I double and even triple check each chapter before I post it, and when I check back a few hours later to read over it I find more! I'm half convinced there's some kind of gremlin that sneaks around and messes it up out of mischief. Anyway, this is the last flashback scene, so for those waiting for the ass kicking demon-busting Lady of the games, check out Part 4 when I get round to writing it. I just hope I can come up with some passable action and fight scenes.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART III_

Mary screamed so loudly that her throat hurt, but it went unheard. This was largely because at that very moment, the terrible metallic screeching they had all heard before returned. It washed over them all and filled the vast hall, drowning out all other sound.

She stopped and stumbled forwards, towards the balcony railing. The cultists were spreading out, each taking up positions upon sigils arrayed strategically around the altar.

The horrible sound seemed to gather in the air above Kalina and Arkham, as if the noise itself was being compressed into a tiny space, causing the very air to ripple like a disturbance on the surface of water.

"Screw this, I'm calling the cops." Said Jack over the din. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his cell phone. Mary paid him no attention – she was focused on only one thing. Her father.

It all made sense now. The stories he used to tell her when she was little. She never thought anything of it, scary bedtime tales of monsters and demons were usual. But as she thought back, she realised now that he hadn't so much been telling her stories as _teaching_ her them. Like he actually _believed_ them. And given the apparitions and this dreadful place, Mary was coming to the frightening conclusion that perhaps it wasn't all superstitious nonsense and grim fairy tale.

This was _real_. Down there, her father was preparing to sacrifice her mother - his wife - to some diabolical demon. As if to confirm this awful conclusion, Arkham paced around the altar and the struggling, bound Kalina, clasping the knife and staring up at the rippling air.

"I summon thee Baphomet," he proclaimed, his words jamming another kind of knife into Mary's insides and twisting it around. "On this unholy of nights. I offer the blessed blood of the pure to break the seal that binds you." He stopped and raised the knife above his head.

Mary found herself clambering over the balcony rail. Her body was moving of its own accord, her mind too shocked to react.

"Mary, what are you doing!" Andy asked incredulous, reaching out to grab her. She slipped through his grasp as she found herself falling towards the hall below. She struck the ground painfully and rolled, the impact jarring her mind back to reality.

"Drink thy wives sweet blood, and let thee drink of your dark spirit, so that I might be exalted." Arkham's voice rang out, chilling Mary to her very core. She struggled to her feet, unnoticed by the chanting robed figures surrounding her parents.

"Come forth!" Arkham cried out, thrusting the blade down at Kalina's heart. Kalina's eye's screwed shut and her head turned away, as if she could block out the horrible nightmare she had found herself in. Mary was running towards them, but it felt like the very air had thickened around her. She was swimming through tar, taking forever to cross the distance towards the ghoulish scene unfolding before her very eyes.

The blade pierced her mother's heart and she let out a muffled scream through her gag. The chanting and wailing ceased, and with a thunderclap the wavering distortion that hung above them all imploded into a black star.

"NO!" Mary cried out, slamming to a halt and falling to her knee's. Several cultists turned and stared at her, their shrouded faces confused. Arkham however was completely oblivious to everything around him, save for the ominous darkness. He raised his arms wide, a look of ecstasy upon his face as dark ribbons of light spewed forth from the black star and enveloped him.

A boiling fury overtook Mary, replacing her gut-wrenching horror. She reached into her jacket, fingers curling around the first thing they could find. She stood, pulled it out and hurled it at the god-awful star that drew her gaze like a moth to a flame. Her torch tumbled through the air. After an age of spinning it reached the star, bolts of crackling violet energy enveloping it and pulling it in.

The star exploded now, in a brilliant flash of light that forced everyone to shield their eyes, save for Arkham, who was hurled backwards as his connection with the thing was severed. When the glare faded, everyone's attention was now drawn upon something else that had replaced the dark star.

It looked vaguely like the demon the statues had depicted, but was only half formed – its lower half was missing, curling black tendrils of dark smoke in place of its legs and lower abdomen. The rest of the thing hovered in the air, a sinister apparition seemingly formed out of pure darkness, save for two ruby red eyes that glinted dangerously.

It threw back its ethereal head and let out that eerie screech like the one before, the sound amplifying until everyone had to clap their hands over their ears. The vast chamber began to shake, the sandstone pillars juddering and finally toppling over. A robed man was crushed beneath one and several others were forced to dive out of the way.

The creature stopped, lowered its head and fixed its gaze on the two nearest cultists. They stumbled backwards, mumbling prayers, pleading, as the thing swooped at them. Mary turned her head away as their horrible screams filled her ears.

She had to get out of this hellhole, and fast. Her gaze fell upon the still form of her mother, a dozen feet away, still tied to the altar. Unthinking, Mary rushed over to it and stared down at her mother's vacant face, whilst the Demon continued dismembering more unfortunate cultists.

"Oh mother …" Mary wailed, tears streaming down her face and dripping onto her mothers blood stained clothes. She reached out and stroked her face, which was still etched with the fear she had felt in her last moments of life. Mary's hand fell to the necklace her mother wore around her neck. Her quivering lips turned into a grimace, and she curled her hands around the necklace, yanking it away and clutching it in her closed fist.

Time caught up with her as screams filtered into her consciousness again. A pile of dislodged ceiling blocks fell onto the altar, burying her mother beneath a mound of rubble. Mary was forced to stumble back to avoid the same fate. She glanced around and saw a scene of carnage and devastation; there was blood and body parts strewn everywhere, and the entire chamber was collapsing. The statue of Baphomet fell forwards and crashed into the floor with a deafening Boom.

Her searching gaze fell upon the smoky shape of the Demon. It finished off its remaining prey and turned its glittering red eyes upon her.

"Oh shi-" she started, just as the thing leaned forwards and dived towards her. She cut herself off, turned and ran towards the giant bronze doors that led out.

Legs pumping furiously, she slowed only briefly to stow her mother's necklace in her pocket before picking up speed again, sprinting towards the doors that were impossibly far away. She wouldn't make it, the thing would be on her any second, she was surely dead …

"Oh gods!" A terrified woman wearing a black robe ran in front of her, stopped and stared past her. As Mary registered this, she tripped over someone's dismembered arm and fell flat on her face, just as the Demon pounced at her.

The female cultist threw up her arms and screamed horribly as it sailed over Mary and began ripping into her. Mary glanced up, saw a bloody scene that nearly made her throw up, and found herself up and running before she even realised what she was doing.

She staggered through the doors and found herself tearing through scarcely familiar passageways in blind flight. She ran on, yells and more screams echoing behind her, panic and fear driving her onwards -

- and rebounding into Andy as she rounded a corner.

"Mary!" He yelped in surprise. "Jesus! I thought you were dead!"

"No, but I will be if we don't get out of here _right the hell now!_" She shouted, stating the blatantly obvious and not caring one bit.

She grabbed his arm and half dragged him after her, as they took off in the first direction they could find leading away from the carnage. They stopped (And just why, she never quite understood, when she thought about it later) as they heard that sound behind them.

Slowly (Again, why?) they turned and saw to their abject horror, the Demon. It floated just at the corner where they had run into each other. Its eyes bored into them and after the briefest pause, it swooped after them.

"RUN!" They shouted in unison, tearing off again, adrenalin and stark fear giving them a burst of speed they never knew they possessed. Corner after corner, through dim tunnels and there! The steps leading to the antechamber! Mary sprinted at them and soon found herself at the top. She glanced over her shoulder at Andy -

- who had tripped in his haste to climb five steps at once, and lay sprawled upon the cold stone. He turned and threw up his arms as the Demon leapt onto him.

"Andy!" Mary cried our uselessly. She crammed her eyes shut and turned her head away as the dreadful wet, meaty noises left their imprint on her imagination.

There was nothing she could do for him. She turned and ran.

A few minutes of dashing through the dark cave tunnels however, and she was hopelessly lost. She had thrown her flashlight away before, and was forced to stumble blindly through the twisting passages with no idea where she was going.

"Mary!"

She slammed to a halt and spun around. There! A gleaming flashlight held by Jack, and beside him Maia. They both looked scared beyond belief.

Mary's relief at seeing them however was short lived. As she ran towards them the roof of the tunnels caved in, depositing a ton of rock in between them. Heart pounding loudly in her chest, Mary scrabbled at the rock once the cave in stopped. She yanked away the smaller blocks and was just able to make out Jacks light on the other side.

"Damn! Too much rock!" He cursed, coughing through thick clouds of dust.

"Mary, see if you can – oh god! Watch out, there it is!" Maia screamed. Mary saw Jack turn and aim his flashlight down another tunnel.

"RUN!" She heard him shout. Suddenly, his light vanished and Mary heard his screams of pain as that _thing_, that damned awful _thing_, ripped into him.

Despair clutched at her heart. She staggered back from the piled rocks, staring open mouthed at them. This was all too much. Too much death, too much violence, just _too damned much! _She felt like curling up into a ball and waiting for the end. Waiting to die in the dark, alone. Afraid. She almost did just that.

"I wont quit. I _wont_." She whispered to herself. Turning away, she started running again.

And stopped, just as suddenly. There, on the wall, was a glowing arrow drawn in luminous chalk. It seemed like a lifetime ago when Maia had scrawled it.

Hope, scarred and beaten, but still hope. Mary followed it and soon found another. And another. In just a few minutes she saw the yawning mouth of the cave entrance and her heart soared.

With a final burst of speed she ran towards it. Cold night air slapped her in the face as she sped out, tears wetting her cheeks again as the weight of tonight's horrific events began to catch up to her. But still, she had survived -

- Something grabbed her and yanked her back around. Her eyes shot open as she was spun round to face the furious face of her father, Arkham.

"You have been a very bad girl, Mary." He said in a disturbingly level tone. Mary tried to speak, but she couldn't. She stared into his mismatching eyes and then noticed that he had a burn mark or scar covering one side of his face. The scar _moved_, its dark texture shifting as if it was alive somehow. She gawked at it whilst Arkham tightened his grip on her wrist painfully.

"You ruined everything." He said quietly, his mad eyes betraying the insanity within. "I was promised the power of a Devil, and you had to show up, tonight of all nights. It seems now I shall have to teach you a _real_ lesson my dear …"

Mary's scrabbling hands closed around the whistle dangling around her neck. She raised it to her mouth and blew an ear splitting blast with all the air her lungs had. Arkham let go of her and clapped his hands over his ears instinctively, whilst Mary - for what seemed like the hundredth time tonight - turned and ran.

Panicked, she stumbled into the darkness of the night, lungs aflame from exertion, legs rubbery from so much running. How much longer could she go on? What horror would find her next? Would this night never end?

Something grabbed her yet again, pulling her in. Like a spring wound too tightly she exploded, flailing at her attacker with what feeble strength she had left.

"Hey! Easy! Easy!"

Mary stopped, and finally saw that her grabber this time was wearing a uniform. A cop! She stared dumbly at him as several other policemen advanced behind him, and behind them she could see the flashing lights of their cruisers.

"I got a call from a Jack Harper, said there was an emergency at the old caves here. Got cut off after that. Are you ok?"

Mary gaped at him. Then she flung herself on him, clutching him tightly as she dissolved into great wracking sobs.

The nightmare was over.


	4. Chapter 4

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART IV_

_Mary died that night. What came out of that cave was little more than the shell of the girl who had gone in. From that day on, I became possessed – not by a Devil, but by my hatred. Of Demons, like the one that killed my friends, and of my Father, who had summoned it in his blind thirst for power at any cost._

_It was with intentional irony that he chose Halloween as the time of his sacrifice. What was even more ironic was that the following day - my birthday - fell upon All Saints Day, a time when the Saints of Heaven are commemorated and are said to work to combat the evil unleashed the previous night. One almost has to admire the twisted coincidences life conjures up sometimes ..._

_When I was picked up by the Police, I was taken to the local station to make a statement (When I had recovered enough from the shock). Half mad from grief I may have been, but even at that age I was smart enough not to try and tell them my friends had been slaughtered by a Demon. That would only have resulted in my being carted off by the men in white coats. I instead told them that my father was part of some deranged cult, and had gone mad and killed them all himself._

_Fortunately, I was not the only survivor. Sarah had been picked up not long after they had arrived on the scene, and she corroborated much of my story. The police checked out my house and found my fathers study, which was of course filled with books on the occult and demonology. As if that wasn't enough, during their search they discovered a hidden room I never even knew existed, filled with all manner of bizarre and disturbing paraphernalia used in black magic. After that, any doubt they may have had about my hysterical story disappeared completely and Arkham made the criminal most wanted list._

_Unsurprisingly they never found him. He was too smart to get caught by simple feds. No, I knew then that _I_ would have to be the one to track him down. Much as I hated to admit it, he was family, and it was down to me to settle the score._

_I was adopted by the police in a sense, having no other living relations. I learned how to handle a gun from them, and some basic self-defence. That got me started, and from there I devoted my then hollow life towards becoming strong enough to eradicate the threat of Demons and, eventually, my father himself._

_One day I found him, and with help from the last place I expected, managed to get my revenge. Even when he returned from Hell itself, I was there to stop him one last time._

_With my personal vendetta brought to a close, my life started to return to me. I was still devoted to hunting down Demons, but one demon in particular - named Dante - actually helped me on my mission as he also had the same goal as I. I learned from him that the real threat was not just from Demons, but from Evil itself, which can be far more deceptive and comes in many different forms. For example, for 16 years of my life I never realised until it was too late just what kind of monster my father was. On the other hand, the demon Dante was so compassionate and kind he even shed tears for his loved ones, and fought against his own kind to protect the helpless._

_We fought and trained together and even became strong friends. Just recently we managed to thwart an attempt by the Underworld to invade Earth, and in the process managed to put a stop to the threat of Demons alltogether. For the first time since my 16th birthday I found myself able to live like a normal human being, and spent several months on vacation._

_I returned to my home in Chicago one night, exhausted from jet lag and damp from the haze of drizzle that swept through the city streets. Nevertheless I felt cheered that my life was returning to something remotely resembling a normal human existence. Of course life has a way of catching you off balance. Just when you think things are settling down, the world deals out a Joker from the deck and drags you right back in ..._

---

The rain swept through the streets in a fine mist. Not the big splashing drops, but the haze that was halfway between rain and fog, giving the night a clingy, humid atmosphere.

Lady shook the worst of it from her umbrella and folded it up. Hoisting her bags, she started her climb up to the third floor where her apartment lay, offering a rather nice view of Lake Michigan (When it wasn't **A:** Raining and **B:** Night time).

"Home sweet home." She sighed, shaking her now long hair, spraying the adjacent walls with the moisture that her umbrella had failed to protect her from. She had only been gone from Spain for a day, and already she was missing it and its stifling heat.

Smiling, (Something she did a lot more of these days, Dante had told her) she finally caught sight of the door to her apartment, 313. She stopped, her smile vanishing to be replaced with a frown of concern.

The door was ajar, light spilling around the corners and into the corridor.

Well, wasn't that interesting? She wondered who had decided to let themselves in during her absence. Burglars weren't usually the type to switch the lights on, preferring to work quickly and quietly in the dark. Demons were even more unlikely, and it certainly wasn't Dante, who was in Italy.

Still frowning, Lady quietly set her bags down and hefted her umbrella. Sadly, due to the massive increase in Terrorism these days, getting around with weaponry had become a tricky and far too dangerous a proposition. As a result Lady found herself more or less unarmed, something she was very unaccustomed to.

She crept up to her front door and heard the sound of footsteps beyond. Someone was shuffling about. She tightened her grip on the umbrella, tensed, then kicked the door open and sprang in, ready to lay out whoever was on the other side.

Two familiar looking men stared at her, mouths hanging open.

"Bloody Hellfire!" Said Tony Redgrave.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to the person who told me about the whole bears problem. Lol. I swear I spelled it right before! #Grumble# Bloody invisible spelling gremlin #Grumble# And what the heck is up with the Document manager? Whenever I try and upload my new chapter it just gives me an error message. Stupid technology #Grumble#

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART V_

"Tony?" Lady asked, staring at the man as if she was looking at a ghost.

"None other." He assured her, eyes flicking questioningly to her upraised umbrella. It dropped from her grasp and thunked to the floor. Even before it hit Lady was hugging him tightly.

"Nice to see you too." He managed to breath. He was slightly taller than Lady, about the same age and build, with scruffy dark brown hair and wearing a flight jacket. He was English, though had moved to America years back and had gone to the same school as Dante. They were old friends since even before Lady had met him, and the three of them had worked several cases together in the past.

Tony Redgrave was a freelance mercenary, or at least had been a while back. These days he was a much sought after gunsmith who specialised in making custom weaponry, ammunition and equipment, and had even made _Ebony & Ivory_, Dante's beloved twin handguns. Lady however hadn't seen him in over three years, but there was no mistaking that quirky boyish face that was usually plastered with the same cocky grin Dante often wore.

She let go of him and turned to the other man, this one shorter and stockier than either of them, slightly balding with a chubby but kindly face. What immediately drew someone's attention to him were his garish coloured shirts, which clearly belonged back in the 80's.

"Enzo!" She gave him a hug as well (Though not nearly as long, the man had feisty hands for his age). From the looks of things he had already helped himself to the six-pack of beers she regularly kept in her refrigerator for when Dante visited. Whilst Tony stepped outside to get her bags in from the hallway, Lady grabbed a towel and started drying her hair as Enzo chattered on with his seemingly endless supply of small talk.

Enzo Ferino was Italian and had a large and powerful family back home (And an even larger and more powerful list of contacts rumour had it). He acted as a middleman for freelancers like Tony and Dante, and had furnished Devil May Cry with its fair share of contracts in the past.

"So," Said Enzo, stopping only to draw breath and take a swig of his beer. "How is the silver haired fox? I'm hearing he and you save the world again, yes?"

Lady smiled and nodded, dropping herself down into her favourite armchair as the rain turned heavy and splattered the windows. "He's on hiatus in Italy, spending some time working at your second cousins Pizzeria … _Paradiso_ I think it was called."

Enzo looked incredulous at her. "No? Garibaldi's? And he doesn't even call me and let me know!" He slammed his beer down upon her kitchen worksurface looking put upon.

"Oh come on Enzo, you know what Dante's like. Would _you_ have mentioned it if he told you not to?"

He rubbed his considerable chin thoughtfully for a moment, then raised his beer again slowly. "You have a point. That Dante's one scary son of a bitch when he wants to be."

Tony stumbled in with her bags and deposited them on the floor beside the door, before closing it and strolling over to the kitchen area to grab a beer from the worksurface near Enzo.

"You know," he said. "You pack very lightly for a woman. You should see one of my friends wives – she takes nearly the entire house with her when she goes on holiday."

Lady shrugged. "Most of my stuff isn't legal enough to travel by air these days." She explained. Tony sipped his beer then dipped the top in her direction.

"Oh! That's right," He said when he remembered to swallow first. "I hear Dante _gave_ you his fathers pistols? Is that true?"

Lady sighed, nodding slightly whilst he let out a low whistle. Pleased though she was to see these two again, their presence here didn't bode well. "Look guys, why don't we cut to the chase? Why are you here?"

Enzo and Tony shot each other wary looks. Tony cleared his throat and strolled across the room to sit opposite Lady. "What do you know about the CDC?" He asked her in a serious tone that she rarely heard him use.

"CDC?" She started, thrown off guard.

"You know, the Center for Disease Control? Like in the film Outbreak? Duston Hoffman? Morgan Freeman?"

"Yes, I've heard of it." She interrupted before he could list the entire cast, crew and details of the film (Tony was a big movie buff). "What about it?"

Tony smiled and leaned back, waving his beer idly in one hand. "We work for them now."

It took a moment for this to sink in. When it did Lady couldn't help but laugh, much to Tony's annoyance. "You? And Enzo? Hunting bugs instead of Demons?" She laughed again, shaking her head. Enzo snorted.

"See! I told you she would not believe it."

Lady watched Tony's annoyed expression and waved an apologetic hand in his direction. "Sorry. I assume there's more to it than that?"

"Well yes, as a matter of fact." He said primly. "We work in a Division of the CDC that deals especially with hunting down demonic activity. It's the perfect cover you see – The CDC has absolute authority to clear any area and command the full support of the local forces. Any sightings or casualties can easily be written off as infected or rapid animals on the loose."

"We are based in Los Angeles!" Enzo cut in excitedly. "The city of angels!" He gave a barking laugh before having another drink.

"Is this true?" Lady asked suspiciously. Tony nodded sincerely. "Even if it is, Dante and I haven't heard a word of any Demons or anything like that since our last job taking down Mundus."

"So I heard." Tony said, smiling again. "We caught wind of that Russian attack helicopter you stole from the Vatican – nice one by the way."

"Thank you." She said modestly.

"Anyway, we've mainly just been mopping things up since then." He went on. "Our bosses started to phase the division out, reassigning personnel and funding. We were just about to be shut down altogether when it started."

"What?" Lady leaned forward, her curiosity piqued.

"Merda seriamente difettosa." Enzo muttered into his beer, turning away and rummaging around her kitchen for something to eat.

"Demons and monsters started showing up again." Tony answered, ignoring Enzo. "But these were different. These weren't just random attacks – they were organised. They worked together in a concise and dangerous manner."

"Someone was controlling them."

"Right. Strange thing is, we have these big machines that can measure dimensional waveforms … its pretty complex, but the point is we haven't detected _any_ interdimensional activity surrounding these attacks."

He paused whilst Lady digested these facts. What did it mean? From the sounds of it, the monsters had to be coming from Earth then, and not the underworld. So someone _here_, possibly human, was sending out demon packs in a series of decisive attacks …

"Exactly what we think." Tony said when she voiced her thoughts. "Of course we were understaffed and underequipped what with the phase out in progress. This new wave caught us completely off guard. Even though they have only been small attacks so far, we lost half our Hunters before the boys upstairs realised we needed support again."

A lightning flash cast a white glare over the room, followed by a deep roar of thunder. Lady lay curled up in her chair, thinking over everything he had told her, whilst Enzo complained about the lack of food she had stocked.

"You know, I think you need to eat more!" He insisted, staring disgustedly at her largely empty cupboards. This was mainly due to the fact that she couldn't cook worth a damn and lived almost entirely on restaurant and café food. Ignoring his protests, she quickly put two and two together whilst listening to the steady thump of the rain on her windows.

"All right, sign me up." She said at last, drawing surprised looks from both men.

"What?" Tony gave a start, eyes wide. Enzo however wagged a finger and turned away to resume his search.

"Ha! Ragazza intelligente." He murmured, whilst Tony played catch up. Lady gave him a coy look.

"That's why you came here, isn't it? To ask me to join up?"

He did a perfect double take and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes! But, umm … we, or at least _I_, didn't expect you to agree so readily. I even had a speech ready to convince you and everything."

"Gutted though I am that I wont have to hear it," Lady informed him carefully. "I shall save you the trouble – I don't need convincing. To be honest I've been thinking on the flight all the way back here just what I was going to do now. Granted the idea of returning to something resembling normality has its attractions, but it sounds like you need help."

"Well … yes." He said, still thrown off by her evident willingness.

"You came to the right person at least. Besides, why would I turn down the chance to kill some Demons and Monsters, with full resources, firepower, backup and intelligence? Or at least three of the four." Her joke sailed right over his head she noted, which was unusual. They must be having a _really_ tough time, she realised.

She stood and stretched, yawning widely. "Come back here tomorrow afternoon and I'll be ready to go."

Tony got up and set his unfinished beer down. "Well at least your things are already packed." he pointed out.

"True." She said. He grinned broadly, showing his white teeth. He held out a hand that, after a few seconds, Lady took and shook.

"Welcome to the team!" he beamed brightly.


	6. Chapter 6

Hooray, I managed to cheat this damned thing into putting up my next chapter, even though that useless Document manager isn't working atm. The glitches and problems with this place are starting to get on my nerves. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, and I will update as soon as I can.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART VI_

The flight was nowhere near as long or bad as the transcontinental one she had taken on her vacation. After only a few hours they touched down at an airport in the wonderfully sunny city of LA, in glorious California. Lady was glad to be leaving the torrents of rainfall behind her.

"You know what gets me?" Tony said, as Lady watched two men in suits cart her meagre luggage off the plane. She glanced over at him as he pushed his sunglasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

"What's that?"

"That Conan the Barbarian managed to get elected Governor of this state. Bet that's something no one ever saw coming."

Lady smirked. "No more than anyone guessing Ronnie Raygun would make President."

Tony let out a barking laugh and wagged a finger in her direction. "That's good! Oh, which reminds me …"

"Hmm?" Lady asked, flicking out her own pair of shades. As they cut the intense glare from the sun she realised that Tony was staring not too subtly at her chest.

"You know, you have a really great pair of -"

Lady's eyebrow rose dangerously over the top of her sunglasses and she cleared her throat in a deliberate way.

"- guns. Luce & Ombra, I mean. Can I see them?"

"Maybe later. If you're good. And what's this? No limo?" She made an attempt at pouting (Not something she was accustomed to, but she was warming to it) as a pair of glinting black sedans rolled up towards them.

"Well call us old fashioned, if you like -"

"Ok."

"- but we prefer to keep our, you know, Top Secret Agency … how shall I put this?"

"Secret?"

"Bingo. And whilst limos _are_ stylish, they _do_ tend to advertise. Especially in LA."

They drove for about half an hour before pulling into a parking lot at the back of a large modern office building. The sign they passed at the front of the structure proclaimed it to be headquarters for the CDC, and bore the Agency logo.

Most of the parking spaces were already filled, but their driver went straight past them all and took them down into the underground motor pool, where Lady gazed out at the rows and rows of finely waxed and polished government cars that looked like they all belonged to a funeral home.

It didn't take long for her to get settled in. She was given an ID card that, suspiciously, had already been prepared and ready for her, and temporary sleeping quarters in the building until she found somewhere in the city. The building itself was excessively clean and modern, everything so neatly placed out it looked like the interior designer was a computer. Lots of people bustled busily back and forth, men and woman of varying ages and nationalities.

The tour upstairs didn't take very long, but when Tony led her back to the buildings lower levels, things finally started to get interesting.

"This section of the building is two floors below ground level, and is home to our Special Division." He explained, leading her through a series of corridors and rooms that were much more to her liking. As were the people she now saw strolling past – most of them looked like soldiers, mercenaries and ex-cons, with a few tech geeks and clerks thrown in for good measure.

After the tour was finished and Lady had stowed her things away, she insisted on getting straight to work. She was feeling restless and wanted badly to try out the firing range she had seen.

"Here we are." Tony gestured expansively as they entered the range area. Through an armoured glass screen Lady could see several agents practicing, some with handguns and others with sub-machine guns.

They headed through to a prep-room where they picked up protective glasses and earphones, before heading into the range itself. It was just like any other she had seen or practiced in, except it was larger than most, with plenty of targets – both stationary and moving. Opposite the cubicles was a long, low table fixed to the wall. Various weapons and large quantities of ammunition covered its polished surface.

Lady had to admit that the presence of so much projectile hardware gave her that old glowing feeling inside. Dante had taught her how to use swords and other mêlée weapons, and his brother had even given her a very beautiful and deadly sword. But she was a Gunslinger at heart, and guns (Especially big and fast ones) pushed all the right buttons for her.

"This is a SPAS15 shotgun. Its rapid firing, and has special ammunition I designed myself, which has proven very effective against Demons." Tony hefted the weapon - stopping only to put on his earphones - and showed her the thing in action. It blew a suitably nice hole in the target. He shredded a few more, before moving onto the next weapon.

"This is -"

"An FNP90, manufactured in Belgium." Lady interrupted. "5.57mm armour piercing rounds. Good against people, not so much against ferocious monsters, who are liable to rip your head off whilst you spray them with that."

Tony grinned and squeezed the trigger. The weapon spat a ferocious torrent of bullets, and to her surprise the target was peppered with larger holes than she would have expected from such a weapon.

"Hollow point ammo rather than Teflon rounds." He explained. "Flatten on impact and then break up like Dum-Dum's, tearing quite a nasty exit wound from any unfortunate enough to get hit."

Lady remained silent as he moved on to the next. "This now, is a Light Machine Gun, an Infantry weapon …"

She was not however paying attention this time. Something tucked away behind several large boxes of ammo had caught her eye. A smile crept onto her face as Tony, oblivious to her disinterest, demonstrated the Machine Gun.

"Not bad, right?" He said, staring at the completely shredded target that dangled off the ceiling rails. "Lady? What do you -" He was interrupted by a massive explosion out on the range, which was followed by another, and another. Each one created a deafening Boom that wasn't so much heard as _felt_ by everyone present. Massive, billowing flames leapt towards them, and everyone save for Lady ducked down in their cubicles to avoid being singed by the multiple blast waves.

When the chaos died down they all peered over at the targets, which were now non-existent. All that remained was blackened and scorched concrete and metal, some of which was still burning merrily away.

The sprinklers came on then, snuffing out the fires and giving everyone an unexpected shower. Tony glanced across and up at Lady, who stood grinning like a lunatic with a giant, twelve-shot revolving grenade gun clutched in her hands in the same way a kid might reverently hold a double chocolate ice-cream on a hot day.

"Now this is _my_ kind of weapon!" She beamed, turning to him and smiling as tears of water poured down her face from the sprinklers.

Tony nervously picked himself up and tried to look a little more macho. "Well," he said eventually. "I can tell you are going to fit _right_ in here …"


	7. Chapter 7

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART VII_

Hi there – I'm Dante! You may remember me from such games as _Viewtiful Joe _and _Capcom Fighting Evolution_!

Anyway, we have a short interval from the Feature Presentation, **DMC:Full Circle**. Why not take the opportunity to purchase some fine snacks from the helpful vendor? It's good tasting and at reasonable prices too! Also, why not consider stopping by _Paradiso_, the best Pizzeria in town!

Yes, you guessed it, I have sold my soul to advertising. I have a lot of debts that need paying and saving the world _isn't_ very profitable. I mean, what did I get out of it all? By doing the right thing I ended up putting myself out of business! That warm fuzzy feeling that comes from being a goody-goody only lasts so long you know.

… are you still here? What, you mean my whining hasn't put you off and made you scarper for the disgustingly over-priced trolley of suspicious foodstuffs? Oh well, don't say I didn't try. Well then, since you're still here I guess I will fill the time until the next chapter gets written by answering some questions posed by the wonderful viewers! Or is that readers? I'm not sure.

Hey! Toss me those flash cards! Yes, the one's next to Dave's Doughnuts! That's them! Over here!

THUMP!

… oh yes, that was _very_ mature, I'm sure. Hark at me, I can heal from multiple impalements but a handful of pasteboard cards leave a bruise the size of … well a bunch of cards. Surprised? I was.

AHEM! Right, first question. This one's from Warp Ligia Obscura, who asks if Lady gave me back Agni & Rudra, my trusty twin demon swords. Yes Warp Ligia, she did. They did sterling work in the last story, but what you didn't get to see was that not long afterwards they started talking again. One might say excessively so. Suffice it to say Lady was none too pleased when they wouldn't stop. I believe the words she used when she dumped them at my feet were somewhere along the lines of _"Take these irritating chatterbox gits back! You can bury them in twenty feet of concrete for all I care, just get them out of my sight!"_

Something like that anyway.

Question two! Oooh! This is fun isn't it? It's just like an interview! Wait a second! (_Jumps into black chair with his name on the back_) Ok, I'm ready! Question two – from Laryna6 (_Blows Laryna a kiss_) who asks what the demon busting secret agency thinks of me.

Do you have to ask? They love me of course! Who doesn't? Shut up Vergil. Ahem. No, in all seriousness, they don't have a problem with me. Reason being that beer-guzzling Italiano, Enzo, spilled his guts (Which took a while, believe me) at the first sign of some of the old filthy green wonga. You can read some of his glowing report on me from the DMC Instruction Manual. While I'm on the subject, that's not a very flattering picture of me in there, is it? Do I look fat in that jacket? No? You're not just saying that because I'm holding Ivory to your nose?

Anyways, they know I've saved the world more than once, and yes, they know I'm part demon. But as my old pal Enzo has no doubt informed them, they also know I'm one incredibly suave, kick ass demon slaying maestro (Not to mention fantastically handsome to boot). They like me so much some of their agents have even started a Dante fan club.

Disturbingly, its not made entirely of girls.

Moving swiftly on … Question three is also from Laryna6, who asks what impact my bro Vergil is having on events now that he's the glorious King of Hell. Well, so far not much. Even though he's got the job title and a rather nifty office with a really hot secretary, not everyone in Hell quite sees eye-to-eye with him. Right now he's having to deal with the Underworld equivalent of a gang war as every Demon Knight and Prince who thinks they've got a decent pair of cojones fight it out for ultimate bragging rights, and Vergil's _oh so_ hard won crown. Yes you heard me Verge, I put you were you are! Don't you forget it! (_Evil laugh_)

Suffice it to say, he has his hands full and won't be playing much of a part in the main Feature Presentation. However, harken unto me! Vergil fans need not despair, as my leather clad sibling shall return in the next story. He's just itching for some action in the spotlight – look at him, rearing to go! Sweat gleaming off that incredibly hard body of his. Silvery strands of slick hair framing a gorgeous face and the two _cutest_ eyes you ever saw that make you want to just snuggle up to him ...

(_Cough-Cough!_) Argh! Water! Need glass of water! (_Takes glass and tips it over his head_) Ahhhhh. Much better. Were was I? Question four of course! Another one from Warp Ligia, who asks if the new agency Lady is currently chums with has been keeping up with recent events.

Hmm, interesting. Whilst I don't know the Demon Busting Probie's personally, I _do_ know that rumour mill Enzo. No doubt he's been rattling on about how Lady and I recently saved the world. Again. Shouldn't we get a medal or something? I digress. Yes, they know we recently kicked serious Demon butt and that Mundus is now pushing up some very hot daisies. The fact that Lady went and swiped a Russian Gunship whilst we were in Italy probably raised a few eyebrows and got their attention. Not to mention the influx of demons giving their Hunters something to do besides shooting at paper targets that don't fight back … I doubt however they have any idea my own sweet brother is the new Demon El Jefe. If they did, they might just think I had flipped. Especially if they found out I handed him the job on a silver hot-dog tray. So, ehh ... mums the word right?

Well that's all we have time for right now. Thank you all you wonderful readers and adoring fans. I know you love me all! My absence must be like a knife in the heart, I'm sure! What? You'd rather have Vergil? Hmmph!

In any case, I shall now return you to the awesome story of **Full Circle** where, hopefully, we will get to see some action. The writer told me he's just about to give Lady her first job as a Government toady. I mean, err, agent. Same diff really.

Only … don't tell her I said that, right? The woman's got a mean streak as big as Vergil's ego …


	8. Chapter 8

I know I promised some action, but my Plot Bunny overrode me and made me write this first. It's quite irritating, I have all this action planned but I have to write the chapters in sequence or it wont make sense, and most of the backstory and scene setting happens at the start. D'oh. You know what they say though, _'The best laid plans of mice and men ... go about as well as you'd expect if you involve a rodent in the planning process._'

Oh, and can someone _please _tell me if the Document manager has stopped working, or is it just me? And btw, I knew it! This website actually puts mistakes in your writing! I read through this chapter FIVE times before I submitted it, and when I checked it out again it suddenly had spaces missing and spelling errors. This is _extremely_ frustrating because its _not me_ thats making them. (_Growls_) That evil gremlin I imagined turned out to be real after all. Dante! I have a job for you! (_Heh-heh_)

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART VIII_

Lady spent the following days getting used to LA and her new place of work. She got to know her way around and started to learn the names of some of her co-workers who were, for the most part, a fairly competent bunch. She was also introduced to the Division Supervisor named, interestingly enough, Ethan Hunt. Tony stressed before hand that it was his real name and he was touchy about any jokes on the matter.

It was on the morning of her fourth day in LA that she found herself waking earlier than usual. She glanced at her alarm clock beside the bed and saw to her surprise that it was half past two in the morning. Despite her best efforts she was unable to get back to sleep, and so decided to go and satisfy her grumbling stomach.

The building was mostly empty at this time, everyone else having gone home. Save for a few security personnel and one or two other people who also slept here, Lady had the place to herself. She made her way through the dimly lit corridors towards the cafeteria, licking her lips in anticipation. When was the last time she had properly eaten? She couldn't remember.

She stopped as she entered the wide, high ceilinged room filled with circular tables and chairs. Someone was already there – a pretty young girl of no more than ten years, wearing a plain unadorned white dress. She had intelligent brown eyes and hair that was tied in a pigtail. She sat at one of the tables, her feet dangling just above the ground. On the table in front of her was a chess set, all prepared for a game. The metallic pieces glinted in the faint lights.

"I'm sorry … who _are_ you?" Lady asked warily. This was a fairly well secured building, so how did this kid get in?

She didn't get an answer, not even when she repeated her question. The girl just sat there, calm as you like, hands resting on the table before the chess set. Frowning, Lady approached the table and sat in the chair opposite her.

The girl smiled and reached forwards, moving one of the pawns forward two squares. She sat back in her chair and looked up at Lady's bleary-eyed expression. Lady gazed down at the board. It was a perfectly normal chess set, complete with two sets of pieces and a board divided into black and white squares.

"You're move." The girl said in a perfectly normal, level voice. Of course it was her move, but Lady had only just woken up and it was the crack of dawn, so to speak. It was still pitch black outside.

"Fair enough." She said, reaching out and moving one of her own pieces to mirror the girls opening move. As she did, she felt some of the fog in her head clear and found she wasn't quite as tired anymore. "So are you going to answer my question, or do I have to start guessing?"

Click. The girl moved another piece. "I'm Solstice." She said.

Lady frowned and moved one of her Knights. Again, as she set the piece down she felt more alert and awake. "What are you doing here? How, for that matter, did you get into this building?"

Click. "That's two questions." Solstice observed.

"What, do I have some kind of limit or something?"

The girl shook her head. "No. But Time is important. I'm here to teach you something, but I cannot do that if I must stop and answer many questions." She said this in an almost reproving way that made Lady feel chided, even though the words were coming from a ten year old.

Lady smiled and moved another piece. The game continued for several minutes, and despite Solstice's insistence that time was short, she remained silent.

"Tell me," She said at last. "Who has the most power in this game?"

Lady considered the question for a moment, all traces of weariness and hunger gone from her mind. "Well, the obvious answer would be the Queen. But I'm guessing if that were the case, you wouldn't have asked."

Solstice's eyes twinkled and she smiled. "Very true. So?"

So? The Queen _was_ the most powerful thing in chess. Everyone knew that. Lady frowned again. What the hell was she doing? Just why exactly was she playing chess at almost three in the morning with a strange enigmatic girl who couldn't possibly have even set foot in this building?

"Do I get a prize if I answer correctly?" She joked. Solstice switched her Rook and King around in a complex move and tilted her head to one side.

"You would gain insight."

"Into what?"

"The future."

Ok then. Cryptic as hell, but she didn't have any other choice, short of calling security. Something told her that wouldn't accomplish much. So? If not the Queen then what? She supposed the Knight was fairly powerful, in that it was the only piece that could move over other pieces, an ability not even a Queen possessed. Even so, it was hardly an ability that enabled it to change the course of a game.

The King then? Loss of one's King spells the end of the game. The Kings decide the outcome of every game and mean the difference between victory and defeat. And yet the Kings themselves are almost as weak as the pawns, being very slow and vulnerable.

Ahhh, what about the pawns? They _seem_ the weakest, and yet where would any chess player be without them? Or, for that matter, any King or leader? Pawns, weak though they are, were the most numerous piece on the board. More than that, a pawn that survives long enough to reach the end of the board can be promoted.

Lady stopped and looked at the faintly amused expression Solstice was giving her. It felt as if the girl was reading her every thought just by looking right at her. The idea was slightly unsettling, though she didn't _seem_ hostile or threatening.

"I'm thinking entirely along the wrong lines, aren't I?" Lady admitted eventually. Solstice said nothing but nodded slightly. Lady sighed and shook her head. "I guess I don't know then."

"An honest answer, at least." Said Solstice.

"So who is the most powerful piece in chess?"

"I never said _piece_. I merely asked _who_ has the most power."

A flicker of confusion passed across Lady's features. "What difference does that make?"

"A great deal."

"And the answer then?"

Solstice used the table to push herself up. She leaned across the board and gently placed her hand on Lady's chest. As she sat back Lady merely looked bewildered. "Me?"

"The one who wields the greatest power in any game," Solstice explained patiently. "Is the unseen hand that moves the pieces."

What a trick question, Lady thought sourly. She did however, have a point. The player always has total control over the pieces, and no matter how many times they play they are never in any danger themselves. If you replaced the carved pieces with living beings, the invisible hands that steer the course of the game would never become bloodied with anything more than metaphorical blood. Bad for the conscience … assuming you had one to begin with.

"And this is supposed to teach me about…?"

"Victory." With a flourish Solstice moved her last piece. "Checkmate." Lady glanced down at the board and realised that it really was, which made her momentarily surprised.

"You're not by any chance one of those child prodigy's are you?" She asked shrewdly. Solstice chuckled.

"I'm much older than I look."

"Oh? I'll have whatever makeup _you_ use then." She smirked. Suddenly, Lady heard the sound of running footsteps approaching. She glanced around and saw the shadow cast by someone hurrying towards the cafeteria.

"Lady?" She turned back to Solstice, who wore a solemn expression and was pointing with a finger at her left wrist. "Don't forget the Time."

"What?" Lady asked, bewildered.

"Lady!" Shouted Dylan, one of the computer geeks from the CDC Opp Centre upstairs. Lady turned in her seat again in time to see him sprint through the doorway and skid to a halt, sucking in deep lungfulls of air, sweat trailing down his face.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

When he had finally caught his breath back, he jabbed a finger over his shoulder in a panicked fashion. "Demons!" He gasped. "They've attacked the 666 Tower block in the Central District!"

Lady stood bolt upright, her chair skidding away from her. A strange thought nagged her, and she glanced around at Solstice.

Who wasn't there. Nor was the chess set.

"Lady?" Dylan asked her, when she didn't react for several long moments. Lady shook her head and turned back to him.

"Sound the alarm." She said. "Call in the troops – but don't call Tony."

"Why not?"

Lady grinned mischievously as she strode past him. "I want to wake him myself."


	9. Chapter 9

The only way I have been able to post new chapters is to export one of my current chapters, which the Document manager seems to be able to manage, and then replace it with my next chapter's text.

It seems to be working again anyway. Here's Chapter 9. Not brilliant, but I'm incredibly stressed. I'm having a thoroughly miserable day and I'm not at my best.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART IX_

Tony Redgrave strode into the CDC Division armoury sporting two large Styrofoam cups of coffee. One was empty, the other soon likewise as he tipped it and drained the scalding contents. When he lowered it and let out a long sigh of contentment, his breath turned to steam in the air.

"Morning." He said pointedly as he strode past Lady with dark circles under his eyes. Tony was not someone well adjusted to being conscious at this particular hour. In fact he couldn't recall when he had even last seen it …

"We have the Tower quarantined and the surrounding area evacuated." Dylan explained to the two Hunters as they began collecting their assorted gear. "The CBDC is already doing a sweep of the building but Ethan wants you two down there ten minutes ago."

"CBDC?" Lady asked as she slipped into her Tactical Vest.

"Chemical Biological Defence Command." Dylan explained. "They're an army unit that's been attached to our Division to provide backup ever since this new wave of attacks started."

"Well at least there shouldn't be too many civilian casualties at this time in the morning." Lady remarked. Tony let out a sound halfway between a snort and a laugh.

"Are you serious? This is LA you know, most of the city only comes alive at night. Like … vampires or something."

"Mmm." Lady 'hemmed' as she finished attaching the last part of her assault gear. She looked like a SWAT trooper or some kind of Black Opps commando. Thrilled though she was however by how much firepower they had to offer, she preferred to stick with her own weapons of choice for the moment. The Yamato was strapped to the back of her vest, slotted nicely into its laquered scabbard. She pulled _Luce & Ombra_ from their shoulder holsters and made a point of deliberately examining them in detail.

Tony let out a low whistle. "Nice!" He said, gazing at the two custom handguns with undisguised admiration. They were, after all, the _originals_ – the weapons he had based Dante's _Ebony & Ivory_ off when the Devil Killer had told him he wanted a pair of guns like his Fathers.

"Yes." Said Lady, turning and walking right up to Tony so that she was a mere hairs bredth away from him. She glanced at them as she held them both either side of his head, then looked him in the eyes and smirked playfully. "Almost as big as yours."

Tony grinned and hefted his own handgun of choice. Hand_cannon_ would be a more accurate description, as he raised the custom .44 automag into sight – his Dirty Harry gun. "_Nothing_, is as big as mine …" he said.

Dylan coughed politely, a subtle reminder that a horde of savage monsters were currently ripping through crowds of unfortunate victims as they stood there trading innuendo's. Amazing, just how much information could be conveyed by a gentle clearing of the throat.

Lady stepped back and holstered her guns. As she did, Tony stared at her wrist, where she wore some kind of bizarre watch designed like a silver scarab.

"Nice … err, watch."

Lady glanced at it, then up at him. "Isn't it? A little bird told me I'd need one. It's important to be able to tell Time." Something about the way she said it gave Tony the impression she didn't exactly mean 'Tell what the time _is_'. He shook his head, stifled a yawn, then headed out of the armoury and turned right, towards the motor pool.

Lady followed and stared at the rows of plain black and above all, _dull_ cars that were arrayed before them. "Come on, I'll drive." Tony started to say, when Lady turned and walked off.

"Oh ho! Yes!" Her eyes had lit up as she strode up to a gleaming black sports motorcycle.

"No! Lady, NO!" Tony bustled up to her waving his hands frantically. "This belongs to the Assistant Director, you cant -"

But she wasn't paying any attention to him. "This is a Kawasaki Ninja ZX!" She breathed as she leant forwards and caressed the beautiful vehicle. It was a thing of grace, she thought. Like a lithe, black panther, waiting to pounce. "Zero to a hundred in 2.5 seconds, top speed three _hundred_ kilometres per hour!"

"No, seriously Lady I'm not fooling around, the AD _loves_ his bike, he'll personally drag us over hot coals if we …"

Lady was already astride the thing however. The keys were in the ignition. She guessed the mere threat of pissing the boss off was enough to discourage joy rides. Too bad she wasn't the kind to scare easily. "You coming, or are you going to stay here and catch a nap?" She chided. And without further ado, she gunned the engine and rode off with a squeal of burning tires.

It took Tony a moment to catch his senses. When he did, he went straight for the nearest car and drove after her, muttering under his breath.

---

Driving a bike of this calibre without so much as a helmet was more than a little crazy. Lady however, who had come far closer to instant death on a regular basis for the last few years, didn't even flinch at the thought. She drank in the cool air as it whipped at her face and legs, her now long hair streaming out behind her, buffeted by the slipstream.

She arrived at the blockade around the 666 Tower in short order, and flashed her ID at the HAZMAT soldiers there. Tony arrived half a minute later, got out of his car and ran over to where she was still sitting on the Ninja bike, staring up with a craned neck at the building in question.

The immediately noticeable thing was the fact that the lights were all out, save for the emergency powered ones. The main power was obviously down. Lady wondered momentarily if the Demons had done that on purpose, putting themselves at an advantage in the dark over their human prey. Normally she wouldn't have credited them with such intelligence, but from the reports she had been reading the last few days, these new packs were frighteningly clever.

The street surrounding the building was swarming with more CBDC soldiers, some police, paramedics and CDC agents. A bustling hive of activity that had congregated around the silent Tower, stretching away into the dark night sky above them all.

"This reminds me of Die Hard." Tony said. When Lady just gave him an amused look, he waved his hand at the dark building. "Die Hard? Bruce Willis? Alan Rickman? Oh come on, even _you_ must have seen it, its one of the all time classic action films."

"It rings a bell." She said half-heartedly.

"Well in that, a group of German terrorists seize control of this huge tower block and take a whole bunch of hostages, including John McClane's wife. He wages a one-cop war against them and manages to single-handedly take them all out himself."

They stared silently at the building for several moments. Suddenly, a sharp sound cut through the tide of noise generated by the rabble. It was a radio call, coming from one of the CBDC teams that were inside.

_"Requesting backup! Repeat, this is Bravo Squad requesting emergency assistance!"_

Lady and Tony exchanged a look as the radio operator fumbled with his equipment and everyone around him fell silent. "Bravo Squad, request received, please state current location."

Static … and then, _"Oh god! They're dead! They're all dead! Bzzzzssshhhhh – Thirteenth floor, god, too fast - Bzzzzsshhhhh, help!"_

The radio broadcast fell silent. Beside her, Tony pointed at the bank of elevators that ran up the side of the building. "We can use those," He started to say, then cursed. "Damn, they wont work if the power is down. Lady -" He stopped as Lady leaned forwards, gunning the engine of her 'borrowed' bike. "What are you doing?"

She glanced around briefly at him and flashed a quick smile. "Yippee-ki-yay." She said, and drove off.

People scattered as she drove full tilt at the building. For one crazy moment Tony thought she was going to try and drive straight up the front of the building itself, but at the last second she swerved to one side and aimed the bike at a pair of heavy double doors – the fire exit.

She whipped a grenade pistol from its holder against her right leg, raised it and fired, blowing the heavy doors straight off their hinges. She lowered the weapon and yanked the bike up, over the still burning doors and beyond.

Slowing only to regain her balance, Lady aimed the Ninja ZX for the fire stairs and gunned the engine, driving it straight up the stone steps that wound up the inside of the building, the bike juddering beneath her and rattling her teeth in her mouth. It felt as if it would shake itself apart at any second, but she pressed it on regardless.

"Come on girl, don't let me down …"

---

Corporal Daniels skidded around the corner, rebounded off the wall and ran straight on. Behind him, the hideous man-sized lizard things bounded after him, several of them skittering across the walls and ceiling with their razor claws digging into the concrete.

Daniels ran and ran, all the while thinking about those _things_ catching up to him, ripping him apart with their jagged teeth … He could _hear _them snarling and slavering behind him as they drew closer. He had already discarded his rifle – the weapon proving useless against the armour they protected themselves with.

There! He saw the soft emergency lights of the mall ahead at the end of the corridor, and the brightly painted words 'EXIT' on the heavy door that led to the emergency stairs. Panting heavily, he sprinted at it, the last of his reserves kicking in with his goal in sight.

It wasn't going to be enough, they were almost on him, he could almost _feel_ their claws against his back. "Yyyyaaarrrgghhh!" He screamed, wringing every last drop of speed from his tired and battered body. He was almost there …

Suddenly the emergency exit exploded, the door flying towards him like a tombstone. Some instinct or reflex threw his body to the floor in time, and the door sailed _just_ over his head, slamming into the large red Blade demon that was in mid-leap towards him. It was flattened into the burning and rent door, which drove it into the far wall, crushing it between a proverbial rock and a hard place.

Daniels glanced up, and through the burning flames that filled the doorway, an angel riding a black motorbike screamed past, sailing over his head like the door. Bullets spat forth, plucking more Blades from the air and throwing them to the ground.

Lady somersaulted off the bike, letting it tear through the air, arcing sideways and slamming into two more Blades who flipped onto their clawed feet. The heavy vehicle rammed them into the ground just as Lady opened fire, peppering the fuel tank with .45 rounds. The tank blew, the explosion ripping the Demons trapped beneath into shreds, the force of the blast washing over Daniels and Lady like a hot wave on a summers day.

Lady landed lightly on the ground next to him. He was too shocked to react at first, his ears ringing from the explosions. Everything had happened so fast …

"Are you ok?"

He blinked and looked up. The woman who had saved him was holstering her pistols and leaning down towards him. He struggled to his feet, with her help, and stared at her.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." She said when he didn't answer. "The fire stairs are clear, you should be able to make it outside ok."

"Thank you." He managed to croak. "Be careful, those things are vicious as hell."

Lady had turned and walked off. As he said this, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "You don't know the half of it."


	10. Chapter 10

--------------

**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART X_

Lady swept through the 13th floor of the building, searching for any further sign of the demons. After a good ten minutes she found nothing, save for a depressing number of hacked and mutilated corpses (Though thankfully no children, of that she was at least slightly relieved). If these creatures were being controlled by someone, she was resolved to track those responsible down and pay the bastards back. With interest.

As she strolled into what was normally a pleasant cafeteria, now just another trashed and wrecked room, she noticed the temperature drop. A _lot_. It didn't just get chilly all of a sudden, it felt as if she had walked into a cold storage room or a morgue.

She froze (Figuratively speaking) and glanced around. That was strange … a sparkling sort of icy mist hung in the air, almost like …

"Frost." She murmured. No sooner had the words left her lips than the frosted ribbons in the air condensed, swirling with purposeful movement towards the far end of the cafeteria.

"I should have guessed." Lady said to no one in particular, as she watched the swirling clouds materialise into hunched shapes not unlike the Blades she had dispatched earlier. These however were composed entirely out of ice, their gleaming white bodies sapping all heat from the room and dropping the temperature down to a teeth chattering level.

Four in total, flexing their deadly silver-white Ice Blades – their natural weapons that existed beyond absolute zero temperature, and could kill any human without them even feeling the blow. Such a weapon couldn't possibly exist according to the normal laws of physics, but Lady wasn't going to stand there disputing academics with the creatures.

"Bring it on, you oversized Popsicles." Lady taunted. A pretty feeble jibe, she had to admit. Insults weren't her speciality, they were Dante's.

Despite the fact that she was alone, a seemingly normal human lunch to these things, she noticed that they each kept their distance, pacing at the other end of the cafeteria as if sizing her up. Lady had a shrewd idea that perhaps whoever was controlling these beasts was able to see what they saw, and had caught her little entrance earlier when she had swiftly and easily dispatched those Blades. It certainly seemed as if these Demons were erring on the side of caution …

With a bizarre cry, one of them sprinted towards her and leapt, pulling its right arm back ready to slash her throat out. Lady reacted on impulse, having expected the attack well in advance. The Yamato was clear of its sheath in a heartbeat, the blade angled up towards the leaping Frost. The acrobatic Demon impaled itself neatly on the deadly blade, Lady using its own momentum to arc it around and slam it through a table behind her.

As the table buckled and the thing crashed into the ground, Lady was already moving, snapping a Thermite Grenade from her combat harness and ramming it into the neat hole in the Demons chest. As she drove it in the Frost's wound was rapidly healing, swiftly closing and freezing the grenade in place.

The monster writhed, lashing out from the ground. Lady swayed to one side, neatly avoiding the clumsy attack whilst swinging the Yamato around and hitting the creature in the side with the flat of the blade, as if she was playing a round of golf.

The Frost slid across the cafeteria floor towards the others, who had been rushing in to attack her. They scattered as their fellow Demon came skidding towards them. Two of them got out of the way in time, the third however was not so lucky. The Thermite detonated, enveloping the unfortunate pair in a cloud of superheated Plasma that vaporised them both.

"Hole in one!" Lady shouted, exuberant. Frosts were seriously deadly, elite demons. She had just killed two in several seconds flat without breaking a sweat.

The two remaining decided to keep their distance, but they were by no means going to sit by and let her pick them off so easily. They both raised their deadly claws, white mist curling around their wrists.

Lady flicked the Yamato into its sheath and simultaneously pulled her TMP machine pistol from her hip holster. She clutched the weapon in her hands and let rip, spitting fire just as the two Frosts sent volleys of freezing icicles from their outstretched hands.

The torrent of gunfire from the TMP deflected the icy barbs in mid-air, dropping them each to the ground where they shattered. One however veered upwards, streaking towards her face. She yanked the machine pistol up just in time to catch the deadly barb on the side of the weapons barrel. She stared at it, embedded several inches deep into the metal, and breathed out a sigh of relief, not wanting to think about what would have happened if it had hit her instead.

She dropped the TMP whilst the Frosts prepared to pounce at her. Throwing her hands out, she back-flipped several times away from them to put some distance between them, drawing the Yamato again as she righted herself.

"Batter up!" She shouted at the Demons, hefting another Thermite Grenade in one hand whilst she twirled the Yamato in the other. One of the Frosts skidded forwards and leapt at her, desperately trying to cover the distance between them.

Lady threw the Grenade into the air, then, as it fell, swung the Yamato around like a baseball bat, striking the Grenade with the flat of the sword and sending it spinning towards the Frost. The two met mid-air. The Frost had a brief instant to register the connection before it too was toast, the Grenade vaporising it with a deep THWUMP! of incinerated air.

Even before the flames had died away, Lady already had a second Grenade ready and primed. The sole remaining Frost wisely decided to cut it's losses, and tried to turn and dash to the side to avoid the attack. Lady belted the Grenade, which sailed past the Frost …

… where it struck the lip of a trash can and rebounded towards the fleeing Frost, who (If it could) would surely have uttered words like 'Oh Shi-' before it joined the rest of its flash fried pack.

"And THAT is how you do it!" Lady gasped, punching the air. "Yeah!" Gods, how she had _missed_ this! Fighting for your life against a horde of deadly, ravenous Demons gave a rush that hands down beat any extreme sport you cared to mention. Except playing pool against Dante, which plain went _beyond _extreme, but still …

It seemed though that whoever was pulling these monsters strings behind the scenes, still had a card to play. An Ace, in this case. As Lady was busy patting herself on the back, two more Frosts materialised in a cloud of snowflakes, one standing upon a table to her right, the other on the counter to her left.

"Still want another piece of me?" Lady asked them, tapping the tip of the Yamato against her boots. "Well I'm ready for more!"

Oh how she would eat those words in a few moments. She watched as the two new Frosts rose into the air and evaporated into clouds of sparkling white, which streaked through the air, both meeting in the centre of the room. The two clouds merged and condensed … not into two forms, but one.

Lady backed away as the thing took shape. It was easily twice the size of a normal Frost, with – her eyes widened as she saw – _Two _heads and _four_ arms. Its tail was three times longer than the norm, and curled up around the back of the Demon. Its entire body was covered in icy spikes, like some kind of inverted Iron Maiden.

Both heads leaned forwards and shrieked at her, their eyes flaring red. The Behemoth advanced on long, clawed legs, and Lady realised she was fresh out of Thermite.

"Me and my damn mouth." She cursed as it fell on her, Ice Bladed claws lashing out from all directions. She ducked the first two and blocked the other two with the Yamato. The jagged, ridged tail came overhead and speared itself at her, forcing her to twitch aside to avoid the thrust of its glittering point.

She used her stooped position to plant a foot on its lower right arm, which lifted her up as the Demon raised it to strike at her again. It was momentarily confused, which she used to full advantage by somersaulting over both its heads, Yamato whirling out as she passed them, the sword slicing deeply into them as she landed precariously on its upper left arm.

It let out a furious bellow and slashed around with its upper right claw towards her. She jumped high into the air a split second before it struck, causing the Demon to jam its right claw into its own left arm, locking it in place. Lady landed another split second later upon its jammed arm, spun round and slashed out at its left head.

The blade sank clean through as before, but the wounds re-froze and healed almost instantly. She cursed, just as the spear tail jabbed at her again. The Yamato flashed out and severed the tip, then again shortening the tail considerably before she back flipped off the monsters arm.

"Are you not done yet?" Lady asked it incredulously, as it yanked its arm free, the jagged wounds healing in mere seconds. As if that weren't enough, the air around the decapitated tail turned a pearly white, crystals forming and solidifying. In moments its tail had reformed, the beast ready to attack again, completely undamaged by her attacks.

Gritting her teeth, Lady dived to the side to avoid a volley of icicles it shot out at her. The beast then charged, ramming tables and chairs out of its path. Lady whipped the Yamato around, slicing a table clean down the middle. With a flick of the wrist she sent the first half at its two heads whilst kicking the second half towards its legs.

The Demon glowered at her, smacking the two table halves away with all four of its arms. Lady turned and ran from it as it steamed on, seemingly unstoppable. She ran towards the far wall and continued running, her legs blurring as they carried her vertically up the wall and kicking off, sending her sailing over the massive Twin-Frost's heads.

She landed behind it and kicked out at its back, aiming her foot carefully between the hundreds of spikes that covered its body. Her blow sent the thing reeling into the wall, were it stuck for a moment. Suddenly, it seemed to melt its form in a way, reforming its body again so that it was now facing Lady and not the wall.

"Nice trick." She muttered, hefting the Yamato in her right hand in much the way one holds a javelin. Her hand pulled back and then snapped forwards, hurling the sword tip first like a spear. The weapon pierced the Twin-Frost through the chest, the blade penetrating all the way and protruding out through its back.

The Demon staggered momentarily before it righted itself. Lady ran towards it and aimed a leaping kick at the Yamato's hilt, the blow hurling the Demon back against the wall – this time holding it there as the blade sticking out its back pinned it to the stone.

"Stick around." Lady chided it, breathing heavily from exertion as the massive Demon writhed and struggled to wrench itself free. Lady calmly walked up to it, examining it closely. "You sure are one ugly mother." She noted. The Twin-Front lashed out with one of its deadly claws. Lady jerked her head back out of its reach and smiled at it. "Temper, temper." She tutted, waving her index finger back and forth as if telling it off for being bad.

She whipped out _Luce & Ombra_ and raised them level with both of the Demons heads. Still grinning, she fired. And fired. And fired. The guns jerked and shook in her grasp as they spat their powerful bullets point-blank into the two faces, tearing chunks from them until all that was left was a jagged and watery mess.

Still the damned thing continued to thrash about. Lady frowned, holstered her pistols and gripped the hilt of the Yamato. The Demon didn't try and remove her hands from her arms, as it was now blind due to an absence of any actual face or eyes to see with. She yanked the sword out.

"Tempus Mortis." She said, as the blade turned into a series of barely perceptible flickering movements. After several seconds, Lady stopped and stood back. The Demon had ceased moving altogether. She turned away from it and slowly slid the Yamato into its sheath. As she did so, the Twin-Frost began to disintegrate, its body sliding apart in a dozen different directions.

Lady finally clicked her sword fully into its scabbard. Behind her, the massive Demon shattered completely, falling apart altogether until nothing was left.

Except for a light. It glittered a gentle blue-white, like a beautiful star in the night sky as it sailed through the air and struck Lady in the small of the back. She staggered for a moment and glanced down. Her entire body was now wreathed in a blue-white fire … but it did not burn her. In fact, it felt slightly cool and tingling …

Her hands and feet flared brilliantly. Lady stared wide-eyed at them as the light faded, revealing a pair of fabulous gauntlets. They were made from a light blue tinted metal, with three shimmering silver claws extending from each one. She glanced down at her feet, which now bore similar exotic greaves, covering her feet and shins. The fit was snug and perfect.

The fire vanished from her, and her new weapons hummed, surrounded by a sparkling halo of white frost. Lady felt a surge of incredible strength flow through her. Exhilarated by it, her foot lashed out and flipped one of the overturned tables up into the air. Impulsively, she slashed out with her new clawed gauntlets.

The entire table became a solid block of ice, which subsequently split into half a dozen separate pieces, each falling heavily to the floor where they shattered into millions of glittering fragments.

"Beowulf and Ifrit, eat your hearts out." She murmured, gazing in admiration at her new weapons. They suddenly flared brightly, and when the light faded they were gone. Now, however, Lady could see a blue-white pattern, like a tattoo, inscribed on her hands and wrists. She had no doubt a similar design could now be found on her feet and legs.

"It's official." Lady said to the now empty and even more trashed cafeteria. "I am _seriously_ dangerous …"


	11. Chapter 11

And _AGAIN _the bloody useless Document Manager has stopped working. If it were a person I would have dismembered it by now. Grrrr. And I'm spending more time correcting the glitches that crop up than I spend writing the chapter in the first place. It's frustrating, to say the least. Sigh. Anyways, here is Chapter 11.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XI_

It was very dark in this part of the building. Various shops and storefronts stretched out in front of her, the interiors lit only by emergency bulbs. Even though it made her a nice target, Lady flicked on the pocket torch fixed to the breast of her Tac Vest. Dante had told her most Demons track body heat rather than visible light, so she figured it was safe.

A crackling burst of static made her start, mistaking the sound for some Demon cry. She relaxed when she realised it was just her radio headset.

_"Lady? Tony here, I'm on my way up to the 13th floor, what's your position?"_

Lady raised a finger to the switch on her hands-free headset, flicking the mic on to transmit. "I'm at the east side shopping centre." She spoke as loudly as she dared.

_"Roger … Victor … err, hell I don't know radio jargon. I'll be there in a few minutes."_

Lady wasn't paying any attention – she had just seen a cluster of movement in a clothes shop to her right. Someone or some_thing_ was in there, moving around in the dark. She pulled Ombra from its holster and gripped the butt of the pistol firmly with both hands, sliding silent as a shadow towards the store. This one didn't have any emergency lighting inside it, and all she could make out were dim, shuffling shapes.

She left her own torch on. Though it would alert anyone inside of her approach, if the shops occupants were Demons they'd know anyway. Besides, she knew _they_ were there, so they wouldn't be getting the jump on her at any rate.

"Three … two … one!" Lady pushed off from the adjacent wall, slipped swiftly up to the front door and kicked it open, Ombra held protectively in front of her, ready to nail any creature that lurked inside with a clean headshot.

"Wait! Don't shoot! Please don't shoot!"

The light from her torch fell upon just over a dozen frightened but human faces. The man who had spoken was wearing a scruffy, rumpled grey suit and had evidently lost his tie. He threw his hands up protectively in front of his face, peering between his fingers at her. Beside him was a dishevelled woman with long, dirty blond hair, and behind her a slightly overweight, bald man with flabby cheeks and quivering jowls.

"It's ok, I'm with the Police." Lady said, quickly stepping into the store and pushing the door shut behind her. As she turned, her light played across more terrified faces, and in the corners of the shop she could see several people cowering. More were hunched over inside the many clothes racks that ran the length of the store.

"The lights went out and then I heard screaming." The first man explained after Lady finished her quick headcount. "These … _things_ … horrible _things_ …" He stopped and shuddered.

"It's all right, you're safe now." Lady assured them, trying to keep them from panicking any more than they already were. She holstered Ombra and tapped her radio headset. "Tony, I'm inside a clothes shop, third store on the right as you come in to the shopping strip. I've found some survivors, they'll need an escort out of the building and probably some medical attention."

_"Understood. We'll be there momentarily."_

Lady strode up to the middle of the shop and gestured for everyone to come close. There was at least fifteen or so in all she counted, when they had formed a loose crowd around her. All looked on the verge of a major breakdown, judging by their expressions.

"Ok, listen up." She said in strong, commanding tones of authority. "Help will be here in a few minutes. Until then I want you all to sit tight and remain calm."

Everyone gave each other wary looks, as if they didn't know whether to trust her or not. It was slightly unnerving. Lady was used to people panicking under such circumstances, but when someone in authority showed up (Usually Dante, Trish or herself) they were often grateful to be ordered around and told what they had to do.

"Believe me, everything will be fine." She said, and wasn't exactly sure who she was trying to convince then. As she glanced around at the worried and suspicious looks, she noticed something strange. Something that had been nagging at the back of her mind since she had first clapped eyes on these people; their clothes were all fairly crumpled, but they were also immaculately clean. Everything they wore looked brand new.

"So where is everyone else?" One woman asked. "Why aren't they here with you?" Lady stared at her and opened her mouth to reply. As she did, her gaze registered that the business jacket the woman wore still had its security tag on the sleeve. She looked past the woman at the clothes racks, and couldn't help but notice there were a _lot_ of gaps …

"I went ahead of the rest to scout the area out." Lady said quietly. Something was definitely _wrong_ about these people, she decided. Just what, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She casually reached up with her hands towards her neck, as if trying to stretch a kink, in truth guiding her hands closer to the hilt of the Yamato.

Whether her tone of voice or this action triggered their response, she didn't know. Everyone immediately fell silent. Their worried and suspicious faces changed to leering, toothy grins. As Lady watched, their teeth all elongated in their mouths. Indeed, their mouths themselves seemed to elongate and stretch out from their faces, whilst their eyes turned red, as if the round orbs were suddenly filling with blood.

Lady's hands fell limply to her sides as she watched on, aghast, as everyone began to double over in pain. Their mouths became snouts, their hair grew with incredible speed and spread, swiftly covering their entire body. The quiet, dark shop was filled with the sound of ripping and tearing fabric as brand new shirts, trousers and jackets split open from bulging muscles. Hands turned into large, razor tipped claws, feet into scrabbling paws. Grunts of pain turned into howls of agony, which in turn became the loud howl of the wolf on a full moon.

Werewolves … goddamned werewolves! Lady had heard of them (Who hadn't?), but had never encountered one before, let alone _fifteen_ of them at once.

Her mind started to prod her frantically, whilst jumping up and down shouting for her to get out, run, hide, just _do something_. She was trapped in a dark, confined space, surrounded by over a dozen ravenous savage wolfmen. Tactically, this was bad. _Very_ bad.

The spokesman who had begged her not to shoot now stood, towering at a full seven feet over her. He stank of wild dog, just like everyone around her. As he leaned forwards with his snout snuffling to pick up her scent, he opened his … well it was a _jaw_ now, and let out a low growl. Lady stared into the dark pit of his throat, lined with rows and rows of icicle sharp canine teeth, covered in a thick layer of saliva that dripped from his gums and formed a sticky pool on Lady's left boot.

"Yuck!" Lady wrinkled her nose and wafted her hand in front of her face as if to disperse an unpleasant smell. "I think you boys and girls could use some Dental." She smiled. Facing almost certain death with a sense of humour was a bad habit she had picked up from working alongside Dante for so long. If he was here now, she had no doubt he would make some tough-talking wise crack as well.

The werewolf pulled its head back and roared, great waves of revolting breath washing over Lady and blowing her long hair like a strong breeze. "Mouth wash wouldn't hurt either." She added. "Or a breath mint."

As one all fifteen of the massive, hairy creatures pounced on her, like some kind of wild rugby huddle. Lady was crushed beneath the pile of bodies, ripped limp from limb and devoured in neat, meaty chunks of flesh.

Or at least would have been, had she remained standing there. The professional Devil Hunter was far too smart to serve herself up on a silver platter however, and was at that moment clutching onto the ceiling of the shop with her new Ice Blades, her Vest torch having been dropped to the ground a split second before hand. She watched the monster tear the thing to pieces and writhe around each other, each trying to get a bite of soft, warm flesh that wasn't actually there.

Suddenly, the door to the shop burst open for the second time. This time however, it was permanent, the force ripping the door right off its frame. Lady glanced across from her perch upside down, and saw a figure dressed in the same gear as her, wearing a gas mask, outlined by a blinding light. In its hands, it held a long, slim weapon with a tiny flame flickering at the end.

The pack of werewolves all stopped scrabbling for their lost meal and snapped their large muzzles around to face the newcomer.

"_Dinner time boys!_" the voice shouted through the gas mask. It lowered its weapon and squeezed the trigger. The only reason Lady didn't feel the intense blast of heat that followed was probably down to some protection offered by her new extra-chilled Devil Arms. As it was, she wouldn't have traded places with the werewolves for all the money in the world.

A liquid stream of fire burst forth from the flamethrower, engulfing every devil dog in hungry, ravenous tongues of burning chemicals. It lit every corner of the clothes shop with a brilliant yellow glare. The werewolves thrashed about, squealing in absolute agony as their own flesh was devoured by a far more efficient and deadly eater than themselves.

When the last of them had stopped moving, Lady coughed lightly from the clearing smoke and stared at the carnage below her. Only shrivelled and blackened corpses remained of the pack of monsters that had trapped her. The store itself - rich carpet and clothes - remained burning merrily away.

The flamethrower-wielding figure hefted the weapon back up, ripped off its gas mask and shook its messy hair. Lady watched as he reached into a pocket, withdrew a long cigar and lit it with the pilot flame of his weapon.

"Hot-Dog, m'Lady?" Tony asked, puffing at his cigar and grinning like a schoolboy.


	12. Chapter 12

Useless Trivia: There is an actual Tower building in Central LA called the 777 Tower, which I used as the setting for this mission.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XII_

"You _so_ owe me!" Tony insisted emphatically. Lady glanced around at the assembled CBDC squads he had picked up on his way here. They had taken up strategic positions around the shopping strip, the flashlights on their weapons cutting harsh white lines through the gloom.

"I could have taken them." Lady said casually. "I was just getting ready to deal with them when you barged in."

"Oh you _were_ not!" He growled, chewing the end of his cigar whilst he handed the flamethrower back to its original owner. "You reminded me of that vampire chick from Underworld when she found out that guy was a werewolf."

"Speaking of which," Lady said, swiftly changing the subject. "Have you ever seen werewolves before? The real-life variety I mean."

Tony shook his head. "No. Like I said though, there's been some new species show up with these new wave of attacks."

"Werewolves aren't exactly a 'new' thing, legends of them have been around for centuries or more."

"True." He shrugged and with some reluctance ground his cigar out on a public ashtray. "Lets just hope we don't have vampires showing up next – I forgot to pack my Holy Water."

They organised search parties, reforming the CBDC troops into squads and sending them off. The main problem had been the element of surprise; the unusual use of ambush tactics and (As Lady had just discovered) deception. Now that they were all aware of how dangerous these Demons were, they could proceed with a bit more caution.

One team was sent to restore power by heading to the breakers in the basement. They would rappel down one of the lift shafts to speed their descent and avoid any further attacks. The rest would 'Divide and Conquer', sweeping through the building in a tight, controlled fashion and remaining in constant radio contact, ready to backup any team that came under attack.

Whilst Lady and Tony were searching the next floor up, they got a call from Dylan, back at the Opp Centre.

_"Hey guys, we're detecting a lot of encrypted transmissions in that building, and its definitely not ours."_

"Then what?" Asked Tony.

_"We think that whatever is controlling the Demons has them all interlinked somehow. Almost like a wireless network connection."_

"Can you trace the source of the transmissions?"

_"Already done. They all seem to be routing through an Office on the top floor of the building. The source seems to be on the move, so it's likely that whoever is controlling and co-ordinating the attack is there. I'm feeding the exact location into your PDA's."_

"Lets go." Said Lady, peering over Tony's shoulder at the screen of his mini-computer. He pointed at the display, which was showing a blueprint of the building layout.

"Here, there's a stairwell down this corridor that takes us all the way to the top."

As they where on their way, one of the squads reported an engagement with a swarm of Beelzebub. Two nearby squads responded to the call and moved to assist, so Tony and Lady continued on.

"Clear." Said Lady, leading the way up the winding stairwell with Luce in a ready hand. Grasping his .44 automag, Tony dashed past her.

They made it to the top floor without incident, save some radio chatter from the CBDC indicating that the Beelzebub had been dispatched without too much trouble.

"The Office is that way." Tony pointed, glancing away from his PDA towards a set of double wood panelled doors ahead of them. The pair advanced silently, like ghosts gliding past the dark offices.

"Ready?" Lady mouthed. Tony nodded and held up a hand with three fingers. He lowered one, then another, and then the last. Together, they kicked open the doors and strode in. After scanning the large Board Room that lay on the other side, Lady raised Luce level with the ceiling and swept her gaze across it, whilst Tony ducked low and checked beneath the large, long meeting table.

"Nothing." He whispered when their combined searches turned up just another empty room. He pulled out the PDA and checked the signal triangulation. "I don't understand, it _is_ here in this room."

"Well I don't see anything."

Tony frowned and got Dylan on his radio whilst Lady paced across the dark office. She came to a stop in front of a lovely potted plant sat in one corner and stared at it intently. There was something _about_ it however that made her hairs stand up. She squinted through the gloom at the plant, tightening her grip on Luce.

There! She could have sworn it had moved!

"Look Dylan, if there was something in here we would have bloody well found it!" Tony shouted into his radio mic. "I'm telling you, there is _nothing_ here!"

Suddenly the entire Board Room was lit up with a brilliant radiance as all the harsh, overhead fluorescents came to life. Obviously the team sent to the basement had restored power.

The sudden glare momentarily blinded them both. When Lady could see properly, she gasped aloud. There was a large dark shape standing between her and the plant. It was transparent, but it was also dark in hue, as if it hadn't adjusted its appearance to compensate for the sudden change in light.

Like a chameleon …

"Tony!" Lady tried to shout a warning, stepping back and lifting the barrel of Luce. The semi-transparent shape lunged forwards and knocked the weapon aside, causing her shot to fire harmlessly into the wall. Its second hit nailed her in the side of the head and sent her sprawling into the wall on her left.

Tony spun and dropped the PDA as he saw the shape coming towards him, fast. As Lady lay in a dazed heap on the floor, he raised his handcannon and fired, point blank into what was presumably the things torso.

What effect, if any, this had on it did little to slow it down. The dark outline of its arm snapped out and yanked Tony's right arm forwards. It twisted and pulled with hideous force, and Tony let out a scream as his arm was wrenched from its socket. The thing chopped across with its other arm and struck Tony's now limp hand. There was a sickening Crunch as the bones cracked. The .44 fell from his hand and clumped to the floor. Tony himself turned a nasty shade of grey, his eyes bulging with agony.

With a twirl, the shape hurled the now disarmed Hunter across the table. He skidded across the polished wood and toppled over the edge, landing on the carpeted floor on the other side where he lay clutching at his throbbing and mangled hand.

"You bastard!" Lady shouted, having recovered her wits in time to see this. She raised Luce again and fired a volley of shots at the shape. It calmly turned to face her (Insofar as she could tell) seemingly unharmed by the powerful rounds she was loosing off at it.

The shape seemed to Blink then, and it no longer looked transparent. Lady's eyes widened as her brain logged the strange appearance of the thing that now stood before her; A tall humanoid figure, well built and apparently wearing what she could only describe as some type of … Bio-Armour. The suit it was fused into looked like some bizarre, alien design inspired by the disturbing visions of HR Giger.

What drew her attention the most however, was that the gauntlets it had on each arm bore more than a passing resemblance to a type of weapon she had seen before. A weapon of Bio-Organic design that Dante had once used, called the Nightmare Beta …

The Bio-Armour man raised one of these level with her. The gauntlet seemed to morph its shape, moving as if it were alive (Something that was all-too possible). A dark barrel extended above where the mans gloved hand pointed at her, and sickly green bolts of energy gathered around it.

Before she could act, or even think – the energy bolt discharged towards her and struck her full in the chest, hurling her backward through the air. She landed flat on her back and lay still, a large scorched circle in the centre of her torso with smoke gently rising from it …


	13. Chapter 13

The idea that Yamato uses a Chrono Heart or similar comes from the fact that Vergil doesn't display such incredible speed when using Force Edge or Beowulf. Only the Yamato. This, combined with the fact that if he could move that fast himself Dante would never land a hit on him, much less beat him several times, leads me to believe that the almost invisible speed of Vergil's attacks are down to a trait possessed by the sword itself. The fact that it only applies to his attacks (And not his dodges or standard movement) bears a strong ressemblance to DMC2 Chrono Heart.

That and I just love messing with Time. Its cool.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XIII_

_"Lady? Tony? What happened? Are you ok?"_

Lady groaned and pried her eyes open. She could hear Dylan's voice buzzing in her ear, the words sending shooting pains through her skull and making her wince. But those were nothing compared to the horrible burning sensation in her chest.

_"Lady? Tony?"_

Groaning louder, Lady forced herself to sit up. She reached up and tapped her radio. "Shut up for a second will you?" She snapped, and screwed her eyes up as a fresh wave of pain shot through her. She glanced down at the smoking, charred hole in her chest and stared at it in disbelief.

Ok, she thought, it can't be as bad as it looks or else you wouldn't still be here to be looking at it. Running this simple bit of logic through her mind a few times, she managed to reach her sore arms around and tear the Velcro fasteners of her Tactical Vest open. With a burst of effort, she ripped the vest off and tossed it to the floor. The front plate had been cooked almost all the way through by the energy blast.

Grumbling profusely, she pulled open her shirt and stared at the large red scorch mark on her upper chest, like the biggest burn blister she'd ever had. Still, the vest _had_ absorbed the worst of it thankfully, and as bad as it hurt she was very lucky to have gotten off so lightly.

Tony was another matter. He was still lying on the floor, rocking back and forth with his eyes clamped shut, clutching at his twisted and broken hand. Blood dribbled down his lips, most likely a result of biting down on them too hard.

Lady half walked half crawled over to him. She resisted the urge to ask the insanely stupid question of 'Are you all right?' and examined his arm. Just as she had suspected, that sadist Demon man had pulled it clean out of the socket so that the whole thing hung lifelessly by his side. His hand was in worse straits – the bones had been partially crushed and his finger joints also wrenched out of place. She didn't envy the exquisite agony he would be feeling right now.

"Tony," She said in as soothing a voice as she could manage. "I'm going to have to put your arm back in place. I'm going to need you to hold still." She glanced up and around the Board Room for a moment. Of the bastard who had attacked them, there was thankfully no sign. Evidently he had business to attend to elsewhere, and hadn't stopped to finish them both off.

"If it's all the same, I think I'll just leave it." Tony managed to gasp between clenched teeth. "Contrary to Television, pain doesn't make you blackout and I really don't think I could take what you have in mind."

He was right of course. She probably should radio some medics and let them handle it with some serious heavy-duty painkillers, but she wasn't sure they had the time.

She _was_ going to have to do it herself. But she wasn't going to make Tony suffer through it. Gritting her teeth, she rolled him onto his back and extended two fingers of her right hand. She thrust these digits to a point just behind his jawbone – there was a nerve ganglion there that, if struck precisely with the right amount of force, induced immediate unconsciousness.

Tony slumped, his eyes rolling up and lids closing. Lady set to work putting his various limbs back into their proper joints. Mercifully, he didn't come around during the process. When she was finished she pulled some bandages from her field med-kit and formed them into a sling to hold his arm and still-broken hand firmly in place to his chest.

Finished, she sat back on her hunches and wiped the sweat from her brow, before tapping her radio on once more. "This is Hunter One, I have a man down in an Office on the top floor. He needs immediate medivac. I am uploading his position to everyone's PDA's … now." She tapped the transmit icon on Tony's palm computer, then stuffed it back in his belt pouch.

There. With luck the nearest CBDC squad would pick him up and get him out of here. In the meantime however, Lady had a score to settle with a certain Demon.

"Dylan, Lady here."

"_Reading you loud and clear Hunter One." _Dylan responded. _"I am tracking the Suspects location now – he is at the stairs leading up onto the roof."_

He had read her mind. Checking that she had all of her gear and weapons, Lady shot the slumbering Tony one last concerned glance before turning and striding out of the Board Room.

That bastard would pay. Dearly.

---------

Strong gusts of wind swept across the wide rooftop. In the distance a bright moon shone down on the Tower, casting a silvery white glow over everything.

The Nightmare Man knelt beside an equally bizarre looking device that had been planted deep into the middle of the roof. It glowed faintly with a deep purple light, and strange symbols danced across its surface.

BAM-BAM-BAM! Three shots rang out loudly, the sound snatched away by a swift gust of night wind. The bullets struck the kneeling figure in the back, but the Bio-Armour seemed to contract in an instant, diffusing the impact and absorbing the energy. A split second later the black skin enveloped the flattened rounds, consuming them like coins falling into a pool of deep tar.

The Demon Man stood and turned to face Lady and the still smoking barrel of Ombra. Two circles flared a sickly green upon the ghastly helmet he wore, the surface morphing in the same way the weapons on his arms had done before. Lady recognised this in time and jerked aside, an instant before her own bullets were spat back at her with dizzying speed.

"Is that the best you can do?" She snarled, holstering her pistol to prevent the temptation to try and shoot the thing again.

The armoured figure let out a low chuckle. "You've been a real pain in the ass, girly." He said. Lady was shocked to hear that the voice sounded human - as human as the people she worked alongside. More than that, it had an all-too familiar ring to it, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it …

He pointed behind at the ugly looking device with the shifting symbols. "Know what that is girly?" He asked mockingly. "It's a BOMB! You know? A thing that explodes when I push a button? Like this one!" He raised his left hand, showing her a small black plastic square with a series of switches on it. His gloved finger rested lovingly upon a large oval button in the centre. "That's not all! I've got a whole big bunch of these little babies scattered throughout this building, and guess what?"

"When one goes, they all go." Lady finished for him. She hoped that Dylan was listening, and had the common sense to warn everyone to get the hell out as fast as possible.

He nodded enthusiastically. "Of course it would be rather stupid of me to push the button whilst I'm still _on_ the building. That _would_ be silly, wouldn't it?" His voice was _so_ familiar to her, it was like the name of someone just on the tip of her tongue …

"I guess I'll have to stop you from leaving then." Lady said, reaching up and pulling the Yamato from its sheathe. The Nightmare Man tossed the switch into the air and caught it deftly. She was sure that, behind his grotesque Bio-Helmet, he was grinning like a certifiable lunatic. He tucked the switch away and held out his right hand in front of him.

Lady tensed, but this time he wasn't firing another shot at her. The Nightmare gauntlet morphed again, this time dropping a long, fat metal rod into his outstretched hand. He clutched his fingers around it and flicked it, like a whip.

The tip of the rod pulsed with the same green energy as before, but this time it sprang forth from the rod and formed a long beam of concentrated light in the shape of a blade. Lady's first impression was that it was very much like a Light Sabre from the Star Wars movies.

"Care to dance?" He asked boyishly, flicking the energy sword up and pointing the tip at her. Without waiting for an answer, he drove the blade into the ground at his feet and quickly drew a circle. He then pulled the blade out and stomped his foot down beside the circle of carved concrete, which promptly flew up into the air. As it rose to mid-height, he punched out with the palm of his left hand and sent the carved block hurtling towards Lady's head.

With a barely perceptible flick of the wrist, Lady sliced the concrete slab cleanly in two with a stroke from the Yamato. She somersaulted forwards, landing less than half a dozen feet from the Demon Man and unleashed a frenzy of attacks that were so quick they were invisible to the normal eye.

Lady had learned that the Yamato had a Chrono Heart fused into it, which enabled its wielder to Time-Shift the sword when they attacked with it, raining dozens of blows upon their foe with impossible quickness. She used this to full effect now, as she attacked with all her pent up anger and rage, scoring numerous blows upon his black Bio-Armour.

He spun away, and in mere seconds all of the deep slashes had healed and closed up. It was as if she had tried to cut water. "Oooh, you're a fast one aren't you?" He leered at her. "That's good … I _love_ fast women." He slashed his energy blade at her face. As she blocked with the Yamato, he swept it down towards her legs. Lady kicked out and knocked his sword arm to one side, causing the glowing green blade to sink once more into the rooftop, where it left a deep black gouge. Snarling, he swiped his free hand up, smacking her across the face and sending her tumbling onto her back.

As he followed up - intending to impale her where she lay - Lady rolled onto to her feet, kicking out as she did. Her first foot knocked his hand away, parrying the attack, whilst her second foot caught him squarely in the face.

He snarled and discharged a teardrop shaped green bolt from his Nightmare Gauntlet. At only five feet away Lady had little time to evade the shot, but the Yamato's Chrono-Cutting speed once again came to her aid, intercepting the blast and deflecting it away.

"You picked the wrong girly to play with." Lady smirked at her seething foe. He raised his sword and charged towards her with a burst of speed. Lady leapt and twirled through the air above him, the Yamato's polished and deadly blade flickering out. She landed lightly behind him and dropped into a defensive stance.

The Demon Man stood, frozen to the spot. Gradually, the sinister black Bio-Helmet he wore began to slide off from his head in several segments. He slowly turned to face her as it peeled away to reveal his face. A face that made Lady gasp aloud, sending a frozen chill down her spine.

"Bad little girl." Said Dante.

Lady was stunned. At least it _looked_ like Dante, of that she had no doubt in her mind. That mop of ash white hair, that gaunt stoneface with icy blue eyes … except that a black oily film slid across his sapphire orbs, giving them the same dark appearance as the armour he wore.

"Dante?" She asked breathlessly. He shook his head, smiled a humourless smile and raised his left hand, in which he held the detonator he had shown her before.

"Close girl, but no cigar." He pressed the button, and at once the strange device at the centre of the roof lit up and emitted an intermittent beeping. As Lady's attention was distracted by this, the Dante Look-alike turned and ran to the edge of the roof. Before Lady could stop him, he dived off, the wind catching his hair and whipping it about in the cold night air.

"This is Hunter One!" Lady tapped her radio on frantically. "The Suspect has just leapt off the roof on the building's … north side! Move to apprehend but use extreme caution!" She dashed over to the edge of the roof where he had jumped and stared down, fighting off a moment of vertigo as she looked down the over twenty-storey drop to the dark streets below.

There was no sign of him.

"_Hunter One, cannot comply – all personnel have been pulled back from the area due to the imminent Bomb threat. No one is authorised to approach the Tower except for the Bomb Disposal Teams, who are still en-route."_

Lady glanced back at the alien looking device and groaned. "Tell them to forget it, there's no way they'll know how to defuse the things he planted."

She switched off her radio and glanced around the rooftop, searching for some source of inspiration. As if sensing her desperation, the Beeping sound from the Bomb grew more imminent.

Great. Now what? If you don't think of a plan in the next few seconds, you're going to be incinerated along with the rest of this Tower. She glanced back over the edge of the roof. It was a long way down …

The Beeping stopped. A second later the Bomb exploded.


	14. Chapter 14

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XIV_

The explosion was tremendous. It decimated the top three floors of the Tower, shattering all the windows and hurling a storm of glass so far outwards that shards landed half a dozen streets away.

Lady was only glad that she was no longer standing on the roof when this occurred. Nevertheless, her current situation wasn't altogether better. The cool wind whipped at her face and hair, stinging her eyes as she plummeted down the side of the building. She could see much of Central LA around her as she fell – a great view. The only thing that held her attention though was the particular bit rushing up to meet her.

Gritting her teeth, she pivoted in mid-fall so that she was now staring upwards at the building. Large chunks of concrete and masonry were plummeting towards her as they broke off from the destroyed top floors.

Lady reached around and grabbed a smooth metal handle from a concealed holster on her hip. Her fingers tightened and yanked the object free, whirled it around, aimed and fired. The Grapple Gun shot it's lance-like projectile upward, where it thudded into a window ledge. Lady braced herself as the Monofilament wire drew taught and gave her entire body a massive jolt, cutting her acceleration sharply.

As she swung towards a large window, Luce came out of its holster and blasted the glass apart. A second later Lady swung through the opening, just as a massive torrent of flaming debris hurtled through the air outside and continued its fall to the street below.

Lady released her hold on the Grapple Gun and felt a powerful swooping in the pit of her stomach as her momentum propelled her in a wide, graceful arc through the empty restaurant. She hit the ground and rolled, absorbing the shock of impact.

"That was too close." She muttered as she skidded to a halt. She glanced up, and found her face to be no more than a few inches away from another one of the Demonic Bombs.

It was Beeping.

Eyes wide, Lady twisted and kicked her feet across the floor, skittering away from the thing. As she did, the Beeping increased in Tempo, just as the one on the roof had done before it exploded.

She was just cursing her continued ill luck, when something went 'Clink'. She glanced down and saw that it was the silvery Bangle on her wrist, which had connected with a metal table leg.

_"Lady?" She turned back to Solstice, who wore a solemn expression and was pointing with a finger at her left wrist. "Don't forget the Time."_

The memory surfaced, and she finally remembered what it was she was wearing and why – the Bangle of Time Dante had recovered from the Demon Realm a few years back. Like many of his new 'Toys' he soon forgot about it and raised no objections when Lady had taken to using it.

It was a Bangle made in the likeness of a watch, with the design of a scarab beetle. It possessed the power to stop Time completely. Normally, it drained the wearers Devil energy, but being a human Lady had slotted an Orihalcon into it in order to power it.

The Beeping of the Bomb stopped. It exploded. A great white flash of light erupted from it, just as Lady whipped her hands up and clapped her fingers down on the Bangle, activating it.

There was a sort of … negative Blink, and everything stopped.

Lady found herself sitting before a huge ball of flame that was frozen in the middle of expanding from the remains of the Bomb. It hung there, like a cloud of liquid fire. She gazed hypnotically at it, and almost felt that if she reached out and touched it, her fingers would create a ripple across its surface.

"Come on Lady! Move it!" She ordered herself sharply, shaking her head in anger. She didn't have time to waste, especially not now.

She got to her feet, carefully edged around the dense explosion trapped in stasis, and hurried out of the restaurant. She hurled herself full tilt through plush corridors and passageways, sprinted through more expensive looking rooms and finally skidded to a halt in front of a sign upon the wall. It informed her that the **Fire Exit** was to her right. She barrelled off in that direction and charged at the door.

She struck it at full speed and it flew open. At least it should have. Instead, Lady rebounded off it painfully and fell back onto the floor clutching at her bruised shoulder.

"What the hell?" She stood and stared at the door. Fire Exits were never locked, they couldn't be! Perhaps it was blocked? She took a step back and planted a firm kick on it. It didn't even tremble from the impact.

"Of course!" She slapped her forehead. How stupid! As long as the Bangle was working, time stood still. That meant that nothing could physically be interacted with, as there was no _Time_ for cause and effect to occur. If she fired her guns at a fragile vase whilst the Bangle was on, it wouldn't break no matter how many rounds she shot at it. Not until the Bangle was switched off.

"Which also means I can't use doors." She said to herself. "Damn." She either had to find another way down (The Elevators would be working again now, but of course they wouldn't function while Time stood still) or she could switch the Bangle off so she could get through the door.

"Option two it is then." She muttered, raising her hand to the cold surface of the worlds strangest Watch. Taking a deep breath, she depressed the switch and felt a familiar sensation, everything momentarily turning into a sort of static as the flow of time returned.

Right away she felt the ground shake beneath her feet, making her stumble forwards. She fell through the Fire door just as the blast wave spewed into the corridor behind her. She _felt_ the heat on her back as she tumbled onto the stairwell. Behind her, there was an almighty roar that deafened her, and in the split second she had to act she knew that the flimsy door would offer no protection at all.

She kept falling forwards, tipping herself over the stairwell and letting herself plummet down the gap that ran down the middle of the stairs. Above her, the explosion vaporised the door and most of the frame, bursting through the walls and shattering the stone steps like an unstoppable Juggernaut.

As floor after floor zipped past her, Lady counted in her head and then threw out her hands, catching the railing of the stairs just as she fell past it. She felt her arms wrench painfully in their sockets, and for a dreadful moment was afraid she would end up like Tony, arms hanging limply by her side, dislocated.

Fortunately however she was made of stern stuff, and managed to haul herself up and over. She was just about to turn and sprint down the steps when she felt them shake and rumble beneath her. She glanced over the railings and saw a billowing jet of liquid golden flames pour through the walls several floors down and begun to spread up towards her.

"Crap!" She swore. Fire door, there! No time, through it now! She wrenched it open and dived through, just as the roaring, hungry flames swept past the ground she had stood upon moments ago.

The entire building was tearing apart from all the explosions. As she staggered to her feet, she _felt_ the entire thing begin to sink downwards. Modern buildings like these, Lady recalled, were designed to collapse _down_ rather than topple over, in the event of structural failure. It was a safety measure designed to minimise collateral damage.

It certainly didn't feel very safe, she thought bitterly, at least not whilst still inside the damned thing. As the Tower crumpled and tugged her down like a fast moving Elevator, Lady reached over and flicked on the Time Bangle again. Almost at once, the lurching motion stopped and everything fell silent again.

"Its only been a few days since I finished my vacation, and I'm already at Deaths door." Lady gasped, catching her breath back before hurrying on. "One would think he'd be sick of the sight of me by now …"

Lady ran on, but slammed to a halt as she realised she was now standing in some kind of motor show exhibit. Various colourful sports vehicles glinted in the light of their stands, pristine and very expensive. Such a waste, she thought.

As Lady strolled past them, tearing her eyes from one to the next, her searching gaze fell across an extraordinary thing. She stopped, a disbelieving grin spreading across her face.

There, nestled in the middle of the other exhibits, was a Ninja ZX motorcycle, identical to the one she had trashed earlier. What where the odds of that, she wondered?

-------

The 666 Tower in Central LA, torn apart by multiple detonations, promptly folded in. It, or what was left of it, shrank down as it collapsed, creating a tremendous cloud of dust and dirt that billowed outwards like hot ash from an erupting Volcano.

If a really keen listener, with special equipment and perhaps a Blast Proof vehicle happened to be passing by, he might have picked up the feint whine of an engine, just beneath all the rumbling and roaring of the devastated Tower.

If so, he would have had the shock of his life when a dirt encrusted figure riding a black motorbike thundered out of the cloud, hit the sidewalk in a shower of sparks and screeched onwards, ridding the front of the expanding cloud like a demented surfer.

Lady skidded to a halt, swerving the bike around when she was sure she was far enough away, and stared in wonder as the 666 Tower disintegrated completely, leaving only a large dirty grey mushroom cloud and a mountain of burning rubble to show where it had once stood.

Sitting there, watching the scene of complete devastation, Lady realised that now was the perfect time to utter some incredibly witty and cutting remark. She opened her mouth, closed it and sighed heavily.

"Damn." She said. "I can't think of anything."


	15. Chapter 15

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XV_

James Darius removed his shades and placed them carefully in his jacket pocket. Despite the layers of warm clothing he was wearing, his breath frosted in the air around him whilst the lift mechanism whined overhead, lowering him into the black depths.

It clunked to a stop and he stepped off the machine, greeted by a soldier dressed in black. "Right this way, sir." He motioned, turning and striding down the grey stone passageway that was lit by electrical flood lamps.

"What have we got?" Darius asked as he followed the man.

"We lost several men due to traps and guardian creatures." The soldier reported in a matter-of-fact tone whilst the walked. "After that, we called in the Demolition teams and they were able to clear a direct route to the location." He stopped and stood to one side to allow a column of troops to march past, before resuming.

"Has anyone been in the chamber yet?"

The soldier nodded. "Yes sir. We found the statue, just as described, however …" He trailed off, not finishing his sentence. Darius shot him a sharp look.

"What?" He barked, irritated at having to press for an explanation. The soldier shifted uncomfortably. They arrived at a security checkpoint that had been set up, and he used this as a distraction to avoid answering the question. When they continued however, he was forced to resume.

"We found … something else." He said. "Sir, I think you're just going to have to see for yourself."

A few minutes later they arrived in a cavernous chamber, at the far end of which, sat upon a pyramid of steps, lay an enormous golden statue of a lion headed figure bearing aloft a huge hourglass filled with glittering sand. This was the Oracle of Time that Darius had been instructed to find. Finally, after months of digging and searching, he could at last get out of this frozen climate and back to his usual office in the States.

As the two of them strode past the security teams posted to guard the statue, Darius saw that there was someone else present – a man, who was definitely not employed by Uroboros.

"Who is that?" He asked, pointing at the figure. The person in question looked like a Tibetan Monk, middle aged with short, cropped black hair and a calm, soothing expression. He sat cross-legged at the foot of the Statue, eyes closed as if quietly meditating.

"That is what I was talking about, sir." The soldier explained. "He claims to be the guardian of this place, and says that if anyone approaches the Statue …"

"What?"

The soldier looked momentarily confused, at a loss for words. "I'm not exactly sure, we didn't understand what he said after that."

Darius sighed and turned to stare at the man. He looked like a local Monk, that much was certain. Other than that though, he didn't seem especially threatening or dangerous. Certainly nothing like the creatures that had been encountered stalking the maze that surrounded this chamber, meant to challenge people seeking the Oracle.

Darius raised his right hand and signalled for the security teams to move up. As they advanced, he turned and calmly walked over to the Sergeant who was in command. He leaned over to the man and said, in tones of forced calm, "Shoot him."

The Sergeant, a stocky man that looked like he had been hired for his ability to crack tough nuts with his bare hands, nodded and signalled for his men to ready their weapons. They stepped forwards and raised their Assault Rifles.

As if sensing their sights on him, the Monk opened his eyes. "You will leave this place." He said quietly.

"And just who are you?" Darius asked, folding his arms across his black thermal jacket with the Uroboros logo emblazoned on the front.

"I am Epoch. You have come to take what does not belong to you. I will not allow that."

Darius cocked his head to one side, his lips taught and grim. "I see. Kill him."

As one, the troops present all opened fire, high-velocity rounds tearing out of the barrels of their rifles in a muted Phut-Phut, the noise muffled by the suppressors attached. Still sitting cross-legged, the Monk didn't even blink.

The bullets stopped in mid air, frozen in time inches away from his expressionless face. Eventually the soldiers stopped firing and began giving each other quizzical looks. The Sergeant frowned and turned to Darius. "Sir?"

"Oh for goodness sakes!" He stormed past them and up the steps leading to the Statue. As he reached the top, he moved to grab the Monk and force him aside. In one smooth motion, Epoch stood and struck Darius in the centre of the chest with the palm of his hand. The Uroboros executive flew back and bounced painfully down the steps, landing in a sore heap at the feet of his men.

Now standing, Epoch brought his hand across and swept the still-frozen bullets aside, as if he was wiping words clean from a Blackboard. With his other hand, he gestured in a strangely complex fashion, in which several of his fingers appeared to occupy several points of space at the same time.

A cold breeze swept through the great chamber, despite the fact that it was deep beneath the ground. Everyone glanced around, trying to see where it was coming from. A few seconds later, one of the soldiers gasped and pointed at the man standing beside him.

The man in question was ageing at an incredible pace. As they watched, his skin sagged and became full of wrinkles. Simultaneously, his hair grew and grew, falling down past his shoulders whilst the colour drained from it, turning grey and then white.

The same, they soon realised, was happening to all of them. Still sprawled on the floor, Darius ripped off his gloves and glared at his hands; they were becoming wrinkled and horribly gnarled. Around him, everyone continued to wither and age at a tremendous pace.

"What's happening?" One cried. "What did he _do_?"

Epoch stood, his hands clasped together, watching the scene unfold without any evident malice or joy. He showed the ageing men no more interest than someone would show a blank stretch of wall.

Meanwhile, the accelerated ageing progressed even faster. Where before they had been young men no older than thirty or thirty-five at the most, now everyone present save for the Monk was at least eighty years old if their looks were anything to go by. And still, they continued to gain in years.

Their hair now grown down to their feet, several tripping over as they tried to hobble away on arthritic feet. One of them tried to grab his radio and call for help, but by this point his nails had grown so long that they had curled around and around, making it impossible for him to grab anything.

Darius was on his knees now, trying desperately to crawl away. His vision and hearing faded, which was just as well, as it meant he didn't have to see the skin crackle and dry on the parched bones of his former men, nor the screams that issued from decayed throats, emanating as no more than mere feeble croaks.

After only a minute since the whole thing had begun, everyone who stood before the Monk was dead. Their bodies continued to age and decay, skin peeling away to reveal yellowing bones and grinning skulls with empty eye sockets. Soon all that remained was a collection of cracked skeletons. A minute later, not even those remained.

Just dust, blown away by the light breeze. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Epoch calmly sat back down and crossed his legs. His eyes closed and he resumed his quiet meditation.


	16. Chapter 16

Warning! This chapter contains scenes of a mild sexual nature. If you are of a young age or are easily offended, then I advise you to not read. And, as has been pointed out, I only just switched over to T rating. D'oh. If my story gets pulled then it's my own silly fault.

My last chapter felt kinda dark, so I wrote this one to cheer myself up.

**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XVI_

A hot jet of water streamed from the showerhead, falling upon Lady's head and coursing down her neck. Thick curtains of steam rose around her and she flicked her head back, tossing her long dark hair from her face.

Well, that had been an interesting morning, she thought. Certainly a very hectic one. So far, this had been the first of the new Demon attacks to take place within LA. All the rest had been scattered throughout rural towns in a number of different states.

The official party line being spun to the press was that a dangerous contagion had infected a number of wild animals being transported into the city, and an accident had let the beasts loose. The public had been informed that the disease may be transmittable to humans, and thus were urged to steer clear of any wild, violent animals and contact the CDC at once. What they _actually_ thought was going on was that Terrorists had deliberately infected animals with some deadly Bio-Weapon as part of a new string of reprisals.

Lady was amazed at how people could come up with down-to-earth explanations for Demon attacks rather than hit upon the truth of the matter, but then the truth was no-one wants to sprout on about Hellspawn invading the country, because the simple fact is they would look like idiots if they did. So they conjured up a more plausible theory that fit with the current climate.

She sighed deeply and turned around, letting the scalding water spray across her back. Thank gods headquarters had showers. Technically they were supposed to be used for decontamination purposes, but all Division Hunters used them after a job anyway, and she still hadn't found an apartment reasonably close to Base yet.

Her Debriefing had been interesting. The Assistant Director was furious that she had used his treasured bike. In fact, general opinion of Lady herself was split pretty much down the middle. On the one hand, her first mission with Division had resulted in numerous casualties and the destruction of the 666 Tower block. Not to mention the fact that she had allowed the only suspect and lead to escape …

Then there was the other half of Division, which pointed out that she had killed several very deadly Demons – essentially what a Hunters job was all about. She got bonus points for saving Corporal Daniels as well, boosting relations between the CDC and the Army CBDC, and managed to put a sock in the Assistant Directors flapping mouth by returning what, for all intents and purposes, was his precious motorcycle. Undamaged.

Really though, there was only one thing that had kept her from suspension and possibly being fired; just before she had jumped from the roof she had scooped up the sliced and diced remains of that Bio-Helmet. The dreadful thing was now being poked and prodded by Division R&D, who's glowing praise at such an opportunity had essentially bought her a Get out of Jail Free card.

"Lucky me." She muttered, staring down at the green tiles and the water flowing between her toes. So, why did she feel so wretched? _Could it perhaps have something to do with the fact that you lied, Lady?_

I did not, she told herself.

_Oh? And what would you call it then?_

Well … more sort of … neglected to mention certain details.

_Ah. Some people might call that Lying By Omission._

Well _some people_ can go to Hell! She ground her teeth and leaned her head against the shower wall. Damn. Damn, damn, damn! She had dug herself a hole by spectacularly failing to mention that their lead suspect behind this whole new threat did, in fact, bear more than a passing resemblance to a certain Ex-Devil Hunter named Dante.

_Wouldn't they find that interesting?_

"Shut up." Lady snapped to herself. "It _wasn't _him!"

_You'd like to think so, wouldn't you? Or is it really just that you're covering his ass? He is a Demon, even if only a half-breed. He might have the rep of a Saint, but that doesn't mean they trust him._

I do.

Lady listened for an internal rebuke, but none came. She sighed and turned around again, letting the scorching drizzle of water droplets spray her chest and trickle down her stomach. Gods that felt good. Lady flexed her fingers and then slowly ran them across her skin, shivering at her own touch despite the intense heat.

She was tense, and seriously needed to unwind. Still, if she had a problem with stress she'd certainly picked the wrong line of work.

_Doesn't mean I cant enjoy myself once in a while_, the voice in her mind whispered again.

A small smile crept onto her face, and before she knew it her hands were sliding down the soft skin of her stomach and past her navel. She shivered again as they slipped between her legs and found the tight opening there.

"Mmmm." She moaned, leaning forwards and sliding the fingers of her right hand back and forth whilst her left gripped the inside of her thigh. A tingling surge shot down her spine like a blast of static. Then she carefully pushed her fingers inside herself and gasped at the jolt that they released. The nails on her left hand dug into the flesh of her thigh as she eased her probing digits back and forth in a rhythmic motion.

It'd been a while since she'd done _this_, that was for sure. She just never seemed to have the time …

"Hey Lady! Where are you? Major breakthrough, you do _not_ want to miss!" The voice belonged to Tony, though Lady was too preoccupied to hear it, especially with the loud splattering from the shower against the tiles.

"Lady?" He pushed the door to the showers open with his left hand, his right now resting snugly in a solid cast. As the door Thunk'd shut behind him, Lady stopped and opened her eyes. She shot a glance across at Tony, who was staring open mouthed at her.

Lady jumped, letting out a sound halfway between an angry shout and a surprised squeak. "Tony! Don't you ever knock?"

"I did!" He protested when his jaw started working again. "I shouted out to you and everything! Not _my_ fault if you didn't hear me!"

_Oh, I'm sure,_ Lady's mind crossed its metaphorical arms and arched an eyebrow at him. _And I suppose _he_ never heard the shower either?_

Lady twirled the handle of the shower, cutting off the flow of water. She then stepped out of the cubicle and strode right up to Tony, so that her steaming, dripping body was a mere hairs breadth away from him. She tilted her head up slightly and fixed her eyes with his.

"Oh, you think this is funny, hmm?" She asked, watching his grinning expression intently. Tony swallowed but said nothing. Given her current appearance and very close proximity, she strongly doubted he could have uttered two words at that moment, even if she had offered to _give_ him _Luce & Ombra_. "What's the matter?" She said coyly, looking him up and down in a deliberate fashion. "Never seen a girl play with herself before?"

Tony had stopped grinning. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but all that came out was a sort of strangled gurgle. Lady smirked, turned and strolled past him. She grabbed a towel from the hook on the wall and wrapped it around herself. She grabbed another and started drying her hair with it, pausing only to jab her stunned partner in the ankle with her toes.

"Move it Redgrave. And start telling me what you're doing here five minutes from your lunch break."

She marched him into the changing rooms, where he stood facing a wall as she dried herself off and dressed (Whilst warning him about stretching his neck or similar, on pain of pain).

"It's our resident self-proclaimed genius from R&D." Tony explained to the wall in front of him as Lady pulled on her shirt. "He's been pouring over that helmet thing you brought back with you. He ran up to me while I was on my way to lunch and told me to find you and come to his lab."

"Did he say what he found out?"

"Nope, just that it was a big breakthrough. But if I know him, he has a flair for the dramatic. He'll wait until we're both down there before pulling off some impressive stunt that shows off how smart he is, and then spill the beans."

Lady finished lacing her boots and stood. She strolled past Tony and headed towards the door, pausing only to drape her wet towel over his head.

"Lets not be late then …"

Edited for spelling errors. Again.


	17. Chapter 17

A _very_ long and not too exciting chapter I'm afraid, but with important plot points. I'm trying to zip through the scene setting and get back to the action, so bear with me.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XVII_

When Lady had heard that they were going to see a research analyst, scientist and self-proclaimed genius, her mind conjured up a pretty clear image of what to expect; white lab coat, thin, oiled hair or slightly balding, thick-rimmed glasses and a slightly nervous disposition.

Zack McKenzie was none of the above. He was shorter than either of them, with dirty blond hair, brilliant blue eyes and a jibe face in sore need of a shave. He sported a heavily worn set of overalls, the top half of which were tied around his waist, revealing a crumpled white T-Shirt with the words _'I'm a Ninja'_ displayed proudly on the front.

Zack drank toxic quantities of fizzy Cola and Pepsi, and was so hyper he was in danger of catching fire. On their way to his lab, Tony had explained that Zack was a scientist, engineer and general all-round King of Trades (On the principle that Kings are better than Jacks).

He bounced around a lab that looked in such a state of barely controlled chaos a direct hit from a meteor would only have been an improvement. The place was a stark contrast to the almost clinical cleanliness of the rest of Division.

"Tony! You found her!" He hopped over a desk covered with paperwork and bounced up to them with all the energy of a newly purchased puppy dog. Zack crossed his arms and looked Lady up and down with unconcealed interest. "Hey!" He said, smiling coyly. "How you doin'?"

Lady sighed, reached over and snatched a pen from a nearby table. This she tossed into the air, caught deftly and aimed point-first at Zack's jugular. "Just fine." She replied indifferently. "Incidentally, would you like to see my pen-pushing skills?"

Rather than shy back from her threat, Zack let out a low growl and clicked his teeth. "I can already tell you're icy exterior is melting away before my glowing personality."

"Zack …" Tony muttered, stepping forwards impatiently.

"Ok, all business all the time, I can dig that." He threw up his hands, turned and bolted across his lab, standing behind a low table where something lay covered in a dirty rag. "Allow me to present my latest work of genius." His hand gripped the cloth. "No applause please." Silence. "Thank you." He twitched it aside, revealing a white plastic manikin head, which was currently modelling the ugly black Bio-Helmet Lady had recovered. Its eyes glowed menacingly.

"Didn't I cut that thing to pieces?" She asked. Zack grinned and nodded.

"Indeed you did my seductively slinky Fox. As soon as I put the pieces near each other though, they melted together and reformed into this."

"Pretty impressive." Tony remarked, staring at the thing with a sort of horrified fascination. He hadn't seen the Demon Warrior that had broken his hand and dislocated his shoulder. All he had glimpsed was a hazy outline as the thing had camouflaged itself.

"Pfft!" Zack waved his hand as if this was little more than a cheap parlour trick. "That's nothing." He reached out and lifted the thing off the dummy head, holding it towards Lady, who took an involuntary step back. "It doesn't bite." He said, smiling. "Try it on."

"Are you kidding? I'm not putting that thing on my head!"

"Hey, have I ever given you any reason to doubt me?"

"Zack, I only just met you two minutes ago."

He seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded. "True. Look, I swear if anything bad happens, you can do anything you like to me as payback. _Anything_." He winked.

Lady glared at him and reluctantly stepped forwards. She took the thing gingerly from him and held it away from her face as if it might explode. It had a slightly scaly, oily texture to it.

You're going to have to try it sooner or later, she muttered in the privacy of her head. Just staring at it won't make it magically disappear.

Sighing, she took a deep breath as if she was about to submerge herself, and lowered the helmet onto her head. Her insides shrank and she scrunched up her eyes as darkness descended. Long, coiling tendrils wound out from the neck region of it and wrapped around her throat and shoulders. The whole thing morphed and contracted, fitting her snugly. When it was done she didn't even feel it anymore, it was as if the helmet had vanished altogether.

"Don't forget to breath." She heard Zack say. His words however rang with a sort of crystal clarity she had never experienced before. With her eyes still shut Lady realised that if she listened, really listened, she could clearly hear the shallow breathing of Tony and Zack, and could _feel_ the distance and direction the sounds came from. As she focused on those sounds, she could even detect the faint sound of rhythmic thumping.

"I can hear your heartbeats!" She exclaimed, opening her eyes. As she did, her voice caught in her throat. Such colours! Such clarity! This must be what people meant by 'Better than life' quality Hi-Def pictures. Lady had excellent eyesight, but compared to how well she could see now, she felt she could count the individual hairs on a dog a mile away.

When she did in fact remember to breathe, her breaths came easily and naturally. In fact she started to feel light headed. As if reading her mind, Zack gestured vaguely towards her mouth.

"The giddiness and light-headed feeling seems to come from excess oxygen intake. The mouth of the helmet extracts more O2 from the air than normal."

Lady heard sounds from the hallway outside – footsteps and people talking. She turned and stared at the wall, and felt a momentary Blink. Her vision suddenly turned a washed-out dark shade. She could just make out the faint outlines of two human skeletons walking side-by-side.

You're seeing _through_ the godamned wall!

"I heard the State Department's up in arms about the sudden 'Outbreak' of the new viral strains that have been popping up." One of them said.

"Ha!" The second laughed. "That would be the non-existent virus' we made up as cover stories? Someone should fire the PR guys if you ask me, worse than useless…" They turned a corner and disappeared, although if Lady concentrated she could still see the smoky white outlines of them walking away down another corridor.

"Lady?"

She turned back, her vision shifting again. This time - as she glanced at Tony and Zack - she saw them both as a rainbow of shifting colours. The air around them was a faint orange, which diffused into a dark blue.

"I can see through walls!" Lady explained excitedly. "And now I can see your thermal body heat." At this, Tony immediately turned a brighter shade of yellow, his body warming.

"See? What did I tell you?" Zack said, folding his arms and leaning back against the wall. Lady glanced down and looked at her own glowing yellow hands veined with red and white. A sudden powerful aroma filtered into her mind. She frowned behind the Helmet/Mask and raised her hands to where her nose would be, sniffing. Soap. Shower cream and water, with faint traces of gunpowder and leather.

"The smells!" She breathed, intoxicated by the intense rush of sensory input. She walked over to Tony and started sniffing like a dog without even realising what she was doing. "You smell of … coffee and cigars. Gunpowder too."

"That's … disturbing." Tony said, leaning back from her.

"Ok, I think that's enough for now." Zack said. Lady nodded reluctantly and raised her hands to the helmet.

"How do I?"

"Just concentrate." He explained. "The helmet senses synaptic activity in your brain, so if you want it off you just have to will it."

A very disturbing piece of information he had neglected to tell her about, she noted. She didn't like the sound of that one bit, and suddenly felt very exposed. The thing was obviously alive, and it worked by reading your mind? She struggled out of it and handed it to Zack, who replaced it on the dummy head. Drawing in a deep, steadying breath, Lady ran her fingers through her hair and blinked several times, adjusting again to her normal vision.

"That was … really something." She said.

"Doesn't really tell us much about our suspect though, does it?" Tony pointed out. Zack snorted and pointedly jabbed his thumbs at his chest.

"You are forgetting … genius! I'm far from done yet." He stumbled over a pile of file folders stacked untidily on the floor and sauntered over to his laptop, which sat amidst a collection of junk and spare parts.

"So how can we use this thing to track down the culprits?" Lady asked as Zack plonked himself down upon a stool. He swivelled around to face her and laughed.

"_Because,_ I am brilliant. Which granted, goes without saying -"

"Got that right." Tony muttered.

"But merits saying anyway." Zack finished, ignoring him. "Now obviously this helmet is a piece of pretty advanced Bio-Technology."

"I've seen something like it before." Said Lady. "Dante had a weapon called the Nightmare Beta that was like this, and he said he fought a large version of one on Mallet Island."

"Right." Zack nodded. "The Nightmare series we know about. They're basically Demonic Bio-Weapons engineered through the use of Magic and Alchemy. But as you may have heard, magic is just science we don't yet understand. And surprise surprise, Demons don't understand it any better than we do."

"But they use it all the time." Lady pointed out.

"Ah, but just because you don't know how something works, doesn't mean you cant use it." Zack retorted. Tony nodded.

"Right. You don't need to know exactly how a gun operates to be able to shoot someone with it."

"Bingo." Said Zack. "Which means that its no more an exact science for them than it is for us, and neither is alchemy. Both are very effective, but difficult to control to such a fine degree as the creation of transgenic organisms."

"Wow, wait." Lady waved her hands to stop him. "Trans-what?"

"Transgenics – it means genetic engineering, like what they do to certain crops nowdays. Alchemy can produce similar results, but there are differences. For example, alchemy can create an artificially grown human -"

"A Homunculus."

"Right, but it isn't precise enough to dictate, say, what colour eyes or hair, or how tall that human will be. You can't use it to change specific traits whilst it's still in the test-tube phase. You _can_ with transgenics and gene-therapy."

"Ok, but what does this have to do with anything?"

Zack turned back to his laptop, flipped off his screensaver of battling stick figures and began cycling through complex looking charts. "Patience, my faithful Padawans. All shall be revealed." He punched up a search programme and typed something in. Whilst the computer ran his request, he turned back to them. "Ok. We know Demons are basically flesh and blood just like us. They must be, or else they wouldn't be able to create Bio-Weapons like the Nightmares, or interbreed to produce demi-demon sprogs like your pal Dante. Ergo their traits are defined by their blood."

"DNA?"

"Exactly. All that appearing out of thin air and other spooky Special FX are the result of Dimensional Shifting, and would happen to us if we started Plane Hopping the way they do. Now, if they are defined by DNA then I can analyse it just like human DNA."

Realisation dawned on the two Hunters. Tony tried to point at the laptop screen with his right hand, winced as he remembered it was in a cast, then pointed with his left instead. "You found something about that helmet in its genetic makeup!"

"I did. I applied my all-too brilliant mind and found this." He clicked open a chart the search programme had coughed up and pointed triumphantly at the complex arrangement of lines and letters. After several seconds silence, he realised he was going to have to spell it out for them and explained. "_This_ gene sequencing is much too refined to have been the product of alchemy or magic. It's too perfect, there's no flaws or mutations. More than that, there's not a single junk sequence."

"What does that mean?"

"It means this helmet, and I'm guessing that freaky guys entire suit, were created in a very expensive and kitted out laboratory. Serious professional work, and done by someone familiar with Demons."

A momentary stab of guilt surfaced in Lady's mind as she once again thought of Dante. She pushed the thought away and tried to piece together the clues.

"That's not all, though." Said Zack, flipping to another page on his laptop, this one showing them a series of molecular spheres. "This work wasn't done using any normal Viral Vectors like those used in conventional transgenic research. These babies," he tapped the screen. "Are nanoparticles. Really tiny synthetic molecules designed to shift DNA bases around with perfect precision. I found traces of these in that things cells."

"I've never heard of anything like that." Frowned Tony, leaning over and staring at the screen. Zack sat back and wagged a finger.

"_That_ is because they were only just developed for this use. Not only that, but showing an incredible display of initiative … thank you … I tracked down a list of groups and organisations that have the resources to pull something like this off, and are known to experiment with transgenic research." He leaned forwards and depressed a key, causing an Internet Web Page to pop up on screen. "My money," he said. "Is on _these_ guys."

Lady peered over his shoulder at the Web Page. It was a company advertisement for a big International Corporation.

Named Uroboros.


	18. Chapter 18

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XVIII_

Zack pulled up a chair and sat himself down opposite Lady, whilst Tony sat on her right. They each wore solemn, serious expressions.

"I think this one." Tony said, pointing. Zack shook his head.

"Tried that before, it's no good. What you want to try is _this_. Trust me."

Lady rolled her eyes and leaned back. "Will you two hurry up and make up your minds? I don't know how much longer I can wait."

Tony and Zack stared glumly at each other. "Fine." Said Tony. He reached down and pushed the plate of French fries and chicken nuggets towards Zack, whilst pulling the plate of curry towards himself.

"Finally." Lady breathed, reaching out and taking the remaining dish of steak and salad. Around them, the cafeteria was a buzz of activity as Division Personnel sat down to enjoy their lunch hour.

They where waiting for Enzo, who arrived five minutes late. Ferino was a man who kept to his own schedule. Truth be told, if the universe came to a sudden stop and ended, he would still be kicking around for five minutes after the big crunch before deciding to pack up and follow suit with everyone else.

"Nice of you to join us." Lady remarked as he appeared, baring aloft two large plates stacked to overflowing with everything the cafeteria was currently serving today. He dropped these down on the table, produced a beer and sat himself down.

"Ah! _Signora_ it is good to see you again!" Enzo beamed happily before turning his attention to his considerable lunch. "I have done some digging as you asked." He said between mouthfuls. "These Uroboros guys are definitely the one's you are after. No question."

"Who are they?" Asked Tony, sipping his coffee uncomfortably, being forced to use his left hand. Lady reached over and snatched a fry from Zack's plate. He gave her an outraged look.

"Hey!"

"Quiet." Said Lady, turning her attention back to Enzo as she popped it in her mouth.

"They are an international corporation that spans the globe." He explained, though his words were somewhat difficult to pick out as he spoke with his mouth more than a little full. "Offices and such everywhere, most of them under dummy names. Officially they handle everything from research into drugs, robotics, hell even weather! They also work the stock markets and run a good number of large bank firms. _Very_ wealthy and powerful."

"Who runs the whole gig?" Zack asked, chewing down on a large piece of fried chicken. Enzo had to pause in his shovelling to catch breath. When he did he waved his hands expansively.

"Few years back it was a man named Arius,"

Lady frowned. That name rung a bell. Where had she heard it before?

"He died from an 'Industrial Accident' and the company was taken over by some new guy."

"Who?" She asked, curious. Enzo smiled and leaned forwards in a conspiratorial fashion.

"Ah, here it gets interesting. Current CEO of Uroboros is a man named Daniel Webster, supposedly descended from an American Senator and famous lawyer of the same name from the 1800's. Funny thing though, none of my _soci_ have been able to find out anything about him before he took over Uroboros. Like … he never existed! And that's not all …" He waved his fork in a meaningful manner. "No one has ever seen the man in public! There are no pictures of him and no one can tell me what he looks like."

"How does he do anything then without being seen?"

"He has many Legal Representatives who act on his behalf. But of the man himself … he could be a _donna_ for all anybody knows!"

"That's a bit bloody suspicious." Said Tony. It was indeed, thought Lady. Come to think of it, that name was familiar as well …

"So now what?" Lady asked, lowering her fork to her plate. "Do we get some kind of legal action against them or just storm their Head Office?"

Enzo snorted, not a pretty sight. "Ha! _Signora la Furia_! You have no proof they are involved in all this and their bloodsucking lawyers would eat this agency alive if you tried anything like that."

"So what then?" She fumed.

Tony cleared his throat and set his coffee down. "We can run a request through Homeland Security, get them to snoop out any offices they have here."

"They wont find anything," Insisted Enzo, tucking back into his lunch with a gusto. "These Uroboros people are too smart to be caught out like this."

Silence fell upon the table, leaving only the background hustle and bustle of dozens of other people all talking and eating at once to fill it up. It was finally broken by Zack, who smiled and bit the end off a fry.

"On the bright side, I do have some good news." He said. Everyone save for Enzo looked at him.

"Do tell." Prompted Lady.

"As you wish, my Lady." Zack grinned and feigned a playful snap of the teeth at her. "I figured, since that crazy tricked out Demon guy kicked your asses before -"

"He bloody well did not!" Tony protested hotly.

"Oh?" Zack turned jabbed a finger at Tony's cast. He let out a satisfying cry of pain and glared daggers at the scruffy engineer. "Case in point." Said Zack, sitting back. "Anyway, since I started working here I've been studying up a lot on Demons. Which, granted is hard when most of them fall to pieces or dissolve when you kill them, but I am not without my methods."

"Your point?" Lady pressed impatiently. He pushed his empty plate away and leaned his arms forward on the table, giving them a complex series of gestures with his hands.

"I found out that the quantum state of atoms that Demons are made of is _very_ different to our own. Probably a bi-product of their creation or something to do with their native dimension. The point is, it seems to contribute a lot to some of their freaky mojo powers."

"And how does that help us?"

"Ah! Well a little known fact is that MRI machines – like ones you find in hospitals – actually change your quantum state just a tiny bit when they scan you. Its such a small change that it doesn't cause any measurable effect, _but_ if one such as I, were to, say, crank up such an effect …" He trailed off, faced with several blank stares. Sighing he downed the rest of his Cola, belched and sat back in his chair. "With Tony's help I think I can make a type of gun that can shift Demons Q-States in a big way."

"And what will that do to them?" Lady asked as Tony's eyebrows shot up.

"Well if it works it would pretty much neuter them. They'd still be strong and fast, but nowhere near as tough. And they wouldn't be able to use any of their magic-mojo, like phasing through walls and shooting fireballs and such. It'd probably mess up that Bio-Armour a treat as well."

Lady thought about that for a moment. A ray gun that could sap a Demons powers? She tried to imagine the look of horror on a High-Class Demons face as it found itself unable to teleport or heal a bullet wound. Nice. Very nice.

"Sweet!" Said Tony, pausing in an awkward attempt at lighting a cigar with his left hand. Lady pulled it from his grasp, jammed it in his mouth and lit it for him. "'Anks."

"Don't mention it. So how long will it take you to make one of these?"

Zack shrugged and glanced at his watch. "About a week, tops. Sooner I get started the sooner I'll have it finished of course."

Lady pushed her chair away from the table and stood. "Better get started, then." Tony and Zack shot each other a look before reluctantly getting to their feet. Enzo had wandered off to acquire second helpings.

"Hey Lady, want to come see my workshop?" Tony asked her, pointing towards the cafeteria door. She glanced around, and as she did her gaze caught sight of someone familiar; a young girl of about ten, sitting by herself at a table in the far corner of the room.

"Lady?"

She snapped her head around to face them and pointed over her shoulder at the girl. "Can you two see her?"

"Who?"

"That little girl in the corner!"

They peered over her shoulder, then shrugged. "Yeah." Said Zack. "So? She's probably someone's kid, got brought by her folks for the day to see where they work. You coming?"

"I'll catch up." She said, turning and striding over to the table. Zack and Tony exchanged confused looks and shrugged, stopping to grab a couple of pastries on their way out. Lady approached the table and saw that the girl was enjoying a bowl of jello, her feet swinging just above the ground.

"Hi Lady." She said, without even turning to face her.

"Solstice?" Lady sat herself down opposite the girl, who scooped a spoonful of wobbling blue jelly into her mouth and smiled.

"Yes." She said, swallowing. "We need to talk …"


	19. Chapter 19

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XIX_

Lady sat and observed the seemingly normal young girl named Solstice enjoy a bowl of jelly. She didn't know if she could trust this girl, but she _felt_ that she could. True, she had hinted about the Time Bangle, which Lady had forgotten she even had. In a sense then, Solstice had saved her life … but was it a ruse? Did she really have Lady's best interests at heart?

Time to find out.

"Solstice … who exactly _are_ you? For that matter _what_ are you?"

The girl paused and fixed Lady with her big brown eyes that were filled with an incomprehensible wisdom far beyond her. Staring into those eyes was like staring into … what? She didn't know. _Stare into the abyss for too long and the abyss begins to stare back_, a part of her mind whispered.

"Only one thing competes in value with life," Solstice began, her voice sounding distant and faraway. "The possession of a blameless heart and a soul of good. But as for the base among mortals, they are exposed sooner or later, by Time, who holds up to them a mirror, as to a young girl."

Lady listened to these strange words, coming from someone who by all rights ought to be talking about cartoons and pony's if her apparent age was anything to go by. She screwed up her face as she lined the words up in her mind and came up with big fat zeroes. "That is so incredibly _not_ helpful."

Solstice shrugged her shoulders and scooped up another spoonful of jelly, whilst Lady drummed her fingers on the table.

"Are you some kind of Demon then? Or … an Angel?"

"Does it really matter to you that much?" The girl asked.

"Do you always answer a question with another question?"

"Do you?" She countered.

They fell silent. A moment later smiles crept across both their faces. Solstice finished the last of her jelly and carefully pushed the empty bowl aside. "I'm human, like you."

"Like me?" Lady sounded doubtful. "I find that hard to believe."

"It's true. I am just … enlightened. By Time."

"Time? As in the God of Time?"

"Ever ageing Time teaches all things." Was her cryptic answer. _Typical_, thought Lady - _dodge the questions you really don't want to answer_.

Lady drummed her fingers some more, then stopped and glanced around at the cafeteria that was still filled with bustling, talking people. She found it hard to accept that, even though she was sitting and conversing with some kind of … whatever the hell the girl was (Not normal, for sure), no one was paying the pair the slightest bit of attention. Everyone else was wrapped up in their own conversations, their own little worlds.

She sighed and turned back to Solstice, who had produced a pad of paper and a pencil as if from nowhere, and was in the process of drawing something. "I don't suppose you would care to fill me in on what all these attacks are about? What Uroboros is up to?" Lady asked.

"Why don't you figure it out for yourself?" Solstice replied, again with a question of her own. "You are a smart person Lady."

"Thanks." Lady grumbled glumly. _Oh_ so helpful. "I thought you said we needed to talk?"

"We are talking, are we not?"

Lady had to resist the urge to scream out in frustration. "Why don't you _enlighten_ me then?"

Solstice paused in her drawing momentarily. "We must each seek truth for ourselves in order to attain enlightenment."

_Ok then_, Lady thought. _She said I could figure it out myself, so I must already have enough pieces to make a picture. I just need to try and fit them together. Start with a corner …_

Ok. Uroboros, a company that works hand in hand with Demons. Used to be run by a man named Arius … AH! She _had_ heard that name before! Dante had mentioned it to her before – He was once hired by Lucia to help stop Arius, the head of Uroboros. That had been on Dummary Island. Lucia … Lucia had been created by Arius using his knowledge of science and magic. _Just like that Bio-Armour Zack was telling you about._ Armour worn by that Dante look alike …

Hold on a second, backtrack. Lucia was created by Arius – by Uroboros. She was part of a series of human looking replicants that served as Arius' servants and bodyguards. Each one looked identical to the last.

Uroboros was using transgenics. Genetic engineering and … cloning? Yes! That was it! Somehow, they had got hold of a DNA sample belonging to Dante – a strand of hair, a few flakes of skin or a drop of blood, anything would do. A single cell contains all the genetic information needed to make that organism (Or person). She knew this, her High School Biology hadn't been a _complete_ waste.

So … they made a clone of Dante. Some kind of replicant or manikin, just like Lucia. It would look exactly like Dante, and would have all his amazing powers; strength, stamina, healing, his incredible ability to master any new skill with ease … pretty much the perfect soldier. Certainly perfect for controlling a host of Demons at any rate.

"Oh my …" She breathed as the realisation started to hit home. What if they made _more_ than one copy of Dante? The perfect soldier … they could have dozens of copies, no, a whole army! An army of Dante's … equipped with Bio-Armour that armed them to the teeth and made them nigh invulnerable to boot …

Lady shuddered. A frightening prospect. If it was true, they were royally screwed beyond the telling of it.

"There you go, I told you that you were smart." Said Solstice, not looking up from her drawing. Her hand traced thin pencil lines smoothly and surely across the paper with surprising speed. "I knew you could figure it out if you tried."

"What about this Daniel Webster? Who is he? What is he after?"

"What do you think?"

"You're doing that again!"

"Doing what?"

Lady slumped back, folding her arms across her chest and pouting as if _she_ was the child. Ok, one step at a time. She would –

"You have to go to Highgate." Solstice said, completely out of the blue. Lady stared at her, but the girl continued on with her drawing.

"Highgate? Why? Where's that?"

For a change Solstice didn't present her with another question. "It's a small town in the south of Nevada. It's important that you go there. Tomorrow."

Lady gaped at her. "Tomorrow? Nevada?" She shook her head. "No, I cant! I've just figured out what Uroboros is up to, and I have to stop them! I don't have the … the time." She stopped.

Solstice also stopped her drawing and leaned forwards with her arms obscuring the picture, hands clasped. "Ok then, don't go."

Lady started. "What?"

"I said don't go. It was just a suggestion. I certainly cannot force you to do anything, nor would I try."

"Oh." Was all she could think to say. "What's so important about Highgate anyway?"

"It is a place with secrets. And answers that you need."

Silence fell, filled once again with the continued presence of background noise. Lady looked up as she realised people were slowly filing out of the cafeteria. She glanced at her watch. 1:58. Lunch was over. Time to go to work …

"Here, take this." Solstice picked up the drawing pad and handed it to Lady. She took it and held it up, examining the picture the girl had been drawing for the last ten minutes.

It took her a few seconds to realise what she was looking at; drawn with all the precision of a computer, the picture was a perfect diagram of a weapon. It was far too complex for Lady to understand, but she recognised enough of it to realise that it was the Anti-Demon gun Zack had been talking about.

_A working blueprint of a weapon that would have taken self proclaimed genius Zack McKenzie a week to come up with, and that little girl just drew up the schematics for it in ten minutes flat. With a pencil and no other tools. Jesus, that's …_

Lady lowered the drawing. Solstice was gone.

She blinked and looked around, but the cafeteria was now completely empty. Only Lady remained, sitting there at the corner table, alone, holding the drawing pad. She glanced down at it in silent amazement, then looked back up at the empty seat where Solstice had sat.

"Thank you." She said, and wondered suddenly just what the future might hold in store. Only Time, she supposed, would tell.


	20. Chapter 20

Free cookie to anyone who spots the _I, Robot_ and _Dead Like Me_ refferences.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XX_

Lady ran. Through streets of snow, lit by a black and uncaring starry sky. It was chasing her. A demon with horns and great bat-like wings. Three red eyes bored through the blizzard, homing in on her.

Hunting her.

She ran. The Hunter had become the Hunted. It would catch her. She couldn't escape. Her legs grew tired, her pace slackened. She stumbled through the freezing drifts, leaving a trail a child could follow.

It drew near. It would never stop chasing her. It would never grow tired. No matter where she went, she could not hide from it. From the inevitability of the darkness. Her Time had come …

She tripped on a stone hidden deep beneath the sparkling flakes of snow, and fell. Her hands went out in front of her, breaking her fall. Hands that were gloved in black, on arms that were clothed in red.

Red? She tilted her head down and long strands of blond hair fell past her shoulders. Confusion welled up inside her. _Those aren't my hands. This isn't my hair … who am I? What's going on? I have to find the boys!_

… _wait, what boys? What is going on? Why-_

She raised her head and turned, staring over her shoulder. Standing there, not five feet away, was the demon. Three red slits of light fixed menacingly upon her. The Dark One leapt. Lady screamed.

"Easy! Take it easy! It's just a dream!"

Lady opened her eyes and sat bolt upright. She was in her room, in the CDC building. LA. It was dark, but the lamp beside her bed had been turned on, casting a soft yellow glow over the room. Her hands reached out and grasped bundles of hair, which she brought up to her face for inspection.

It was her normal long, dark brown hair, curled slightly at the edges. She let out a sigh of relief, her sense of identity flowing back into the recesses of her mind. What a nightmare …

"Tony?" She let go of her hair and looked up. Tony was leaning over her bed with his left hand pressed against her shoulder in a comforting way. She frowned and glanced over at the alarm clock. The red LED display informed her that it was 1:07AM.

"Yeah. Are you ok?" He took his hand away and sat down at the corner of her bed. Lady raised a hand to her forehead. It was drenched in sweat and she was still breathing heavily.

"You're hot." Said Tony. She snapped a look at him but he threw his hand up in defence. "By that I mean that you appear to have a highly elevated temperature. Among other things."

"Tony, what are you _doing_ here at one in the morning? Shouldn't you be at home?"

Tony shook his head. "Nah. I'm a coffee addict and Zack gets enough caffeine out of all that Cola and Pepsi he could run longer than the Duracell Bunny. We stayed behind to work on that Demon Busting gun. Just finished it."

"Already?" She was surprised. "I only gave you the plans this afternoon … well yesterday afternoon."

"True. And brilliant plans they were as well. Are you still going to lie if I ask you again how you got them?"

"I didn't lie." She insisted, tossing the tangled covers off and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She paused for a second to let the last vestiges of her nightmare evaporate before getting to her feet. Tony stood and gestured towards the door.

"Rough night?" He said with a smile on his lips. "Want to tell me about it?"

Lady strode past him, pulling the door open and stepping into the dimly lit corridor beyond. As Tony followed her and shut the door behind them, she gazed out of the row of windows that lined the passageway, offering a particularly nice view of the moon.

Tony came up alongside her, glanced across at her and tried, without much success, to suppress a snigger from escaping. Lady tore her gaze away from the bright silvery moon and shot another look at him.

"What?" She said. Tony raised his hand to his mouth and made unconvincing coughing sounds.

"Nothing, nothing." He spluttered. Lady frowned and then looked down at herself. She was still wearing her pink pyjamas. She sighed, realising that this would do little for her reputation as a hardcore Demon Hunter. _Thank the gods he never saw Mr. Snuggles_ her mind added in the privacy of her head.

The building was quiet at this time of night. There were about three other Hunters who slept here the way Lady did, and the only other people present besides Tony and Zack were a handful of Security Guards; the Night Shift.

Tony led her not to Zack's lab but to his own workshop. It was one of the few places in the building she had missed on the tour. Which was a shame, because she'd hate to have missed it.

The workshop was a gun lover's paradise; a long soundproof room with strategically placed overhead lighting designed to avoid casting shadows; Workbenches with clamps, vices and a variety of other tools; Boxes filled with every kind of spare and custom part imaginable, each labelled for easy reference; Display cases containing some very exotic weapon designs, and a large caged-off section containing a sweeter selection of guns than the firing ranges offered.

It was situated on the first floor basement, in the east wing surrounded by storage closets and packing rooms, offering privacy and little chance at being disturbed. Zack was already there, looking as bright eyed and bushy tailed as ever. Did the boy (She couldn't associate the word 'man' with him) ever sleep she wondered?

He turned to her, the look on his face suggesting that he was about ready to explode with excitement. Then he saw her, standing there without her customary weapon belts and wearing nothing more than a very girly set of pink pyjamas. He broke into a wide grin instead and let out a throaty purr.

"Hey hot stuff, what say you and I get cosy in the gun locker?"

Beside her, Tony grimaced and sidled away whilst she trailed an idle finger across one of the workbenches.

"Tell me Zack," She said smiling in a disconcerting way. "What's red and has six holes in it?"

Zack was still grinning like an idiot, oblivious to the hot water he was fast drowning in. Lady stopped and clasped her fingers around the handle of a large calibre revolver. She hefted it and held it in her hands almost lovingly, before glancing back up at Zack and flashing another dangerous smile.

"Guess." She said.

Zack McKenzie was either very brave or very suicidal. He leaned across the workbench and clicked his tongue. "What's the matter, Lady? Not got intimacy issues have you? Besides, traditionally the guy pokes the girls holes."

Tony winced. _Oh boy. Genius? _Dead _smart is more like. _Lady smiled sweetly and raised the pistol to Zack's nose. Then, with deliberate slowness, lowered it in the direction of his groin and eased the handle back.

"Zack." She said with infinite patience. "You are just about the _dumbest_ smart person I have ever met. Now show me your weapon."

Common Sense finally penetrated through the layers of caffeine-induced hyperactivity and knocked at his door. He stepped away from the workbench, considered making a crack about her last comment, then thought better of it when Common Sense let itself in and waved an eviction notice at him.

He strolled over to another workbench, this one strewn with all manner of cables, spark plugs, transformers and various other electrical debris, and lifted a sleek black pistol unlike any she had ever set eyes on.

"Its so small." She noted, taking it from him and examining it closely. She had expected something the size of a cannon, not something marginally bigger than _Luce & Ombra_. It was made up of three distinct parts; the grip, the main body and the head (Shaped very much like a spitting cobra head she thought), with a switch position on the side of the back grip, right where the thumb would be when holding it.

"Hey, size isn't everything you know." Zack said.

"If we had designed it ourselves then the weapon probably would have been much bigger." Explained Tony. "As it was, we stuck to those plans and this is what we came up with."

"I gotta say, credit where credit is due." Said Zack, folding his arms and sitting himself on the workbench. "The design was brilliant. You have got to introduce me to this … what was her name?"

"Solstice."

"Right. We could have a meeting of minds."

Lady eyed him shrewdly for a second, then raised the weapon and pressed the switch. A bolt of crackling blue-green light sizzled forth and enveloped the young engineer. He immediately leapt up and fell to the floor, twitching.

"OW! That fecking hurt!" He whined after the discharge had faded. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Lady shrugged, examining the weapon again and nodding in approval. "Shock therapy. Your mind is far too dirty for your own good."

Zack picked himself up from the floor, brushed himself off and gave her an extremely hurt look. "Water that is too pure has no fish in it." He said.

"How very Zen." Said Tony, grinning. "You've been smoking pot again haven't you?"

"Hey, I may have the exterior of an incredibly handsome sex god-" Tony and Lady laughed simultaneously. "-but on the inside I have great wisdom and insight!"

Tony raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "You once told me you spend 23 hours a day thinking about sex, and the other hour _having_ it. So exactly what kind of cosmic wisdom do you suppose you have?"

Zack opened his mouth to snap off a comeback, when suddenly all the lights winked out, plunging them into darkness. A few seconds later battery powered emergency lights flicked on, casting a dim illumination on their puzzled faces.

"What the hell?" Said Tony. He pushed past them and hauled some packing crates aside, revealing a dusty and unused looking computer tucked away in the corner of the room.

"Here, move, let me." Zack shoved him aside and sat down, yelped, stood up and brushed the nail off the seat, then sat back down again. Lady and Tony stood behind him, watching as he clicked his way through a dozen large flashing messages.

"What is it?" Asked Lady anxiously. "Why is the power out?"

"Someone tripped the silent alarm." Said Zack, pointing at the screen. "Mains power has been cut and security bypassed. The emergency generator kicked in, that's why the computer is working." He turned in the seat to face them, his normally effervescent face lined with worry. "There's someone _here_."

"Who would want to make a house call at this hour?" Said Tony. He and Lady locked gazes and the answer came to them at once.

"Uroboros."


	21. Chapter 21

Ark! Part 21 already and I'm not even close to half-way! This story has become much, much longer than I originally imagined. I figured I'd be near the end by this point, but I'm nowhere near that. I might have to split this fic into two seperate stories, or else end up with perhaps the longest story on the site.Oh well, whatever will be, will be. Please review and let me know what you think! I don't normally ask for reviews but finishing this fic is starting to seem a little daunting, and I could use some support. (Que big puppy dog eyes)

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XXI_

He looked like Dante, this man. Wearing an expensive black suit, black leather gloves and a red tie. With a gaunt face, curtains of silvery hair and blazing blue eyes, he could easily be mistaken for the Son of Sparda himself.

Until you got to know him, that was. Which wouldn't be for very long. He was merely one of many, and whilst he possessed the body and blood of Dante, he certainly did not have his soul.

They called him Dvorak.

He watched as scores of black-clad soldiers filed past him, their silenced assault rifles leading the way as they slid stealthily through the main lobby of the CDC building.

Dvorak stepped over the body of the dead security guards, holstering his pistols as he did so. He stopped as a voice chirped in his earpiece.

_"Power and phone lines have been cut sir, security systems have been bypassed."_

"Understood." He replied, striding forwards and signalling to the rest of the squads. "Alpha and Bravo, Guest rooms are on the second floor west wing. Find her, and shoot on sight." He watched them depart before issuing his next orders. "Charlie and Delta teams, secure all entry and exit points – no one gets in or out unless it's us. Echo and Foxtrot, with me."

They moved out, silent shadows armed to the teeth and ready to kill. No less than six squads, with more reinforcements on the way. As Dvorak slammed through a pair of doors and strode on, two Fireteams trailing after him, he let a slight smile flicker across his features.

She wasn't going to escape. Not this time.

Lady Must Die …

---

"Ok, I'm in."

Tony glanced over at Zack, who had managed to access the security camera's situated throughout the building. He turned back to the phone on the wall, lifted it off the receiver and placed it against his ear.

"Nothing. No tone, phone lines are dead." He reached into his back pocket and pulled his cell phone. "No reception either, I think the signals being jammed."

"Guys, this is bad." Said Zack, staring worriedly at the computer. Lady clipped a gun belt around her waist and grabbed a shoulder holster.

"What is it?" She asked.

"A whole bunch of ninja's, from the look of it." He explained as Tony came over and stood behind him, glaring at the surveillance images.

"He's right, I count … three … five or more squads of at least four men each. G36's, silenced, with flashlights. And … bloody hellfire! That's Dante!"

Lady appeared at his side and stared at the screen over the top of Zack's head. There, caught on camera for the ground floor reception, was one of the Manikin's of Dante that Uroboros had created. He would be leading this little attack, she had no doubt. "That's not Dante." Lady said evenly, slipping a pair of automatic pistols into their holsters.

"Lady, either that's Dante or I'm a Three Headed Monkey."

She sighed. "It's a copy of him, like the Ki series Lucia was a part of. Uroboros … cloned him or something. It was one of them who was leading the attack on the 666 Tower."

Tony and Zack eyed her with mingled expressions of worry and suspicion. "You, uh, kinda neglected to mention that before." Said Zack in the wincing tones of someone who didn't want to get their head bitten off.

"I only figured it out recently." She explained. "Look, whatever they're here for I have to stop them. Tony, stay here and barricade yourself in after I'm gone," She held up a warning finger when he opened his mouth to protest. "I need you to guard Zack, so he can try and override the security bypass and call for help. Don't argue just do it." She spoke with commanding tones that brooked no dispute. Tony nodded glumly and wandered off to find himself a weapon.

"Where are they headed now?" She asked Zack. He snorted and turned back to the screen.

"Who exactly? You've got quite a selection. You might want to head for the Guest rooms on the second floor first, they've sent two teams there and we still have a couple of other Hunters asleep there."

Lady nodded and turned to leave, stopping when Zack called out to her. He had to admit she certainly looked … striking, in her pink pyjamas and gun belts. "What?" She asked impatiently.

"Be careful." He warned her, and meant it.

---

It was eerily quiet. Something about the situation made Lady feel as if there should be flashing red lights and blaring klaxons. God damned Uroboros actually had the _gall_ to come here and attack them! She was going to show them they were picking with the wrong damned people …

She came to a T-Junction and stopped, peering around it. From up ahead she could hear the soft pad of many footsteps moving together. She pressed her back tight up against the wall and peeked out.

Dvorak stepped into sight suddenly, making her heart leap in her chest. She pulled back instantly and listened.

"You, check down there. The rest of you this way." She heard him say in a voice that was unmistakably that of Dante's. _But much colder_, she thought to herself. _There's no warmth or humanity in those words_.

She heard several footsteps draw near, coming towards her. She took a step back away from the corner and steeled herself. No gunshots from her, couldn't afford the noise. Had to take them down quietly …

The barrel of a rifle appeared, followed by a man decked out in black combat gear. Three more followed, sweeping their rifles around in slow arcs as they scanned ahead, moving swiftly and surely.

Lady pounced, grabbing the barrel of the rifle belonging to the nearest man and ramming it upwards, into his face. He let out a startled cry that was cut off by the breaking of his nose. As he loosened his grip, Lady yanked the rifle from his hands and rammed the butt into his face, sending him sprawling back into the man behind him.

The soldier to his left recovered from the shock and veered his rifle towards her, firing. Lady struck the side of the weapon with the barrel of her own stolen rifle, causing the shots to pepper the torso of the third unfortunate. He went down without a sound, the _Phut-Phut_ of the silenced bullets the only indicator that shots had been fired.

The idiot who had fired still kept his finger on the trigger. Lady twisted, forcing the rifle around in a wide circular arc. Silenced bullets ripped through the plaster walls and carpeting, tearing chunks out of both. The man finally had the sense to ease off the trigger, and Lady rewarded him by stepping forwards and slamming her own rifle into the side of his head. He folded up neatly.

The final man managed to push his unconscious associate away and struggled to get up. Lady walked over and offered him a hand up. Before he could act, she wrenched him to his feet and hurled him into the opposite wall, where he cracked his head against a doorframe and slid to the floor once again.

"If it were only that easy all the time." She remarked quietly, bending down and flicking the radio earpiece away from one of the bodies and placing it around her own ear. Almost at once, a voice hissed into her head.

_"Foxtrot, what's your status? Respond."_ That was the Dante copy. Lady grinned and fought the urge to snap off a cutting remark at him.

"This is Foxtrot, nothing to report." She whispered into the mic. The silencers showed they were trying to be sneaky with whatever they were doing, so she figured whispering a reply would not arouse suspicion. It didn't.

_"Keep your eyes open, and stay alert. She is very resourceful and should not be underestimated."_

_She?_ Lady thought. _Interesting …_ it would seem likely that these goons had come hunting for her. Hunting the hunter? They would regret that.

Lady hefted her stolen rifle and darted off down a dark corridor. After all, she reasoned, turnabout is fair play.

---

"Wow! Did you see that?" Zack gasped, pointing at the screen. "She totally nailed those guys without even firing a shot!" Behind him, Tony smiled.

"That's nothing. Wait until they _really_ piss her off."

---

Lady ducked down behind the desk and peered over. Through the frosted glass a few feet away, she could see another one of the Hit teams sweeping through the offices with methodical precision. Zack had said two Teams where heading for the Guest rooms, and they would have to pass through here in order to get to them.

It was a good thing she had taken the time to memorise the layout of the building, she reflected. Time well spent.

One of the men stood before the glass door that led into the office she was hiding in. Lady ducked down and held her breath, willing her heart to stop thumping so loudly. Outside, the man reached for the handle and slowly started to turn it.

_"This is Delta Team,"_ A voice sounded in Lady's ear, making her jump. The soldier outside the office let go of the handle and turned away, listening. _"Be advised, we have sighted a suspicious individual moving around on the ground floor. Could be the one we're looking for. Should we pursue?"_

Lady frowned. Suspicious individual? Who might that be? One of the other Hunters? Maybe. She hoped that Tony wasn't being stupid and trying to take this lot on himself.

_"No."_ Dvorak's voice cut across the channel, sending chills down Lady's spine with just one syllable. _"Remain where you are and continue guarding the exits. I will investigate myself."_

_"Understood. Delta out."_

Lady was already away from the desk and fast approaching the door. The soldier outside still had his back to her and was listening intently to the radio chatter. Just as Delta signed off, she grabbed the handle and shoved the door open, slamming it painfully into the man's elbow and shoulder, knocking him sideways. As he staggered and fought to maintain his footing, Lady pulled the door back and waited.

He turned to face her, eyes widening from behind his black face covering. He tried to raise his rifle, but was interrupted when Lady once again shoved the door into him. This time the solid plate glass connected with his face and knocked him out cold.

"Hey! You!"

She snapped her head around. Two men stood down the hallway, one of them pointing at her. Lady jerked to the side, placing her back up against the wall just as the bullets zipped through the air where she had been a split second before.

"This is Bravo Team, we have the target in sight! Second floor, section 3B." She heard them report in. Fair enough, she thought, that just meant she had to be fairly quick about dealing with these before reinforcements arrived.

"There she is!" Cried someone to her left. She turned her head and saw to her dismay two more men down the hall in that direction. Damn. They had her pinned.

Lady stepped into the middle of the corridor, just as the first two goons rounded the corner. As one, the two on her right and the two on her left raised their rifles and opened fire. An instant before, Lady vaulted up into the air, spinning right around as the hail of gunfire ripped beneath her, whistled past her face and carried on.

Four bodies hit the ground about the same time as Lady landed lightly on the carpeted floor. She glanced at the dead soldiers and smirked.

"That's what I call a Crossfire."


	22. Chapter 22

Here it is, Chapter 22. It's a little long, but I'm trying to cut down on the overall number of chapters I need to do by squeezing a bit more into each one. Thanks everyone who reviewed, your support really means a lot to me. As a little sneak preview, I'd like to add that in future chapters you will get to see Sparda himself, Eva and Kalina-Ann again. Those of you who have spotted a certain theme in this fic will be able to see how this will be. Sadly it wont be for a while yet, as I have to put things in sequence or else it wont make sense.

--------------

**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XXII_

Dvorak marched into the wide auditorium, Echo team following close behind him. He spun around, examining the vast empty room with its rows and rows of vacant seats. "This will do, set up here." He instructed them. At once, two soldiers moved forwards carrying a large black case between them. They placed it on the podium and opened it up. A strange purple light glowed from within. With exaggerated care, they removed the Demonic device and set it down slowly.

"_This is Delta Team,"_ Their radios suddenly spoke. _"Be advised, we have sighted a suspicious individual moving around on the ground floor. Could be the one we're looking for. Should we pursue?"_

Dvorak turned to the men preparing the bomb. He jabbed a finger at them. "Keep working." Before tapping his own radio earpiece. "No. Remain where you are and continue guarding the exits. I will investigate myself."

"_Understood. Delta out."_

He rounded on the remaining members of Echo team and gestured at them. "Secure this room. Wait until the bomb is ready, then-"

He was interrupted as his radio burst into life again, this time the voices on the other end shouting with frantic urgency. _"This is Bravo Team, we have the target in sight! Second floor, section 3B."_

Dvorak's lip curled into a sneer. "As I said, wait until the bomb is ready, then activate it. I'm heading to Section 3B instead, I want you all to check on the other sighting on the ground floor." They nodded in understanding. Dvorak pulled out his twin pistols and strode off at a brisk jog, his trigger fingers flexing in anticipation.

A few minutes after he was gone, the first two soldiers stood, announcing that the bomb was ready. One of the others stepped forwards and pulled out the small boxy trigger. He aimed it at the bomb and pressed the activation switch.

The instant he did, the trigger device shattered in his hands. All four of the men looked at each other in puzzlement, wandering what had just happened. Right until, that is, the trigger man's head juddered violently, a neat hole appearing in the back of his skull.

He sank to the floor as the other three dived for cover, acutely aware that they were all standing upon a podium designed to be as visible as possible from the rest of the room.

All three leapt clear. Two of them landed safely in front of the first row of seats. The third landed in a silent heap, and didn't get back up.

The two that were left crouched down behind the front row, weapons at the ready, but they could not see any sign of the sniper. The room was very dimly lit, emergency bulbs and the purple glow of the bomb the only source of illumination. The attacker could be just about anywhere and there was plenty of high-ground overlooking them. They shot each other an uneasy glance, and the first one raised his hand cautiously to his radio.

"This is Echo team-" He started to whisper. He was cut off as a high-velocity round rudely interrupted him. The final soldier watched him crumple to the floor, leaving him alone with a seemingly invisible gunman on the loose, somewhere in the dark cavernous room.

Fighting to keep calm, he carefully unhooked a grenade from his combat harness, gently eased out the pin and then tensed up like a spring. He waited a second, then hurled the explosive as far away as possible before ducking back down.

One, two, three … BOOM! There was a deep pop as the frag grenade detonated, shredding chairs and sending metal and wood fragments everywhere. He used the distraction to leap out from cover, charge up the narrow isle that ran up past the rows of seats and dive back down between the sixth and seventh rows, hurling himself to the ground.

Several long moments passed in relative silence, though to him they were filled with the pounding of his heart. Still lying prone, he began to shuffle himself forwards, rifle ahead of him. He would relocate, then try to make a dash for the door at the top of the room …

As he reached the next isle that cut across the sea of chairs, a black combat boot stepped into sight not two feet from his face. He glanced up and found himself staring down the barrel of a silenced G36 rifle the same as his own. The holder was also dressed exactly the same as him and the rest of the Uroboros troops, except that this one was a woman judging by the figure and the chest.

The man swallowed as the female sniper winked at him.

"Boo." She said.

---

Lady hurried along the silent moonlit corridor, her bare feet padding across the grey carpet. She swerved around a corner before jarring to a halt as her stolen radio sparked into life again.

"_Lady …"_ The voice of Dvorak said, making her start in surprise. She flung herself against the nearest wall, glancing this way and that. There was no one in sight.

"_Lady, I know you are out there, listening."_ He went on in a low, threatening tone, edging each word with murderous intent. _"I found the team you stole that radio from, the one you're listening to now. You'll have to speak up my little canary, I can't quite hear you."_

Ok then, the game was up. That was just fine by her. She sank down onto her haunches and tapped the earpiece. "You know, I always pictured myself as more of a Raven than a Canary." She said, smiling in the darkness.

"_Most amusing. I have planted a bomb in the building, like the ones my predecessor used on the 666 Tower. You are surely aware then that if I so choose I can level this entire structure."_

_Predecessor?_ Lady wondered at that. Was perhaps the previous Dante/Ki disposed of for failing to kill her? Come to think of it, was she really that much on an inconvenience to them that they would want her dead this much? There had to be more going on.

"What do you want?" She snapped back, as if she didn't already know.

"You. In the Main Lobby. Alone and unarmed. You have five minutes."

Lady laughed. "Right. So you can 'shoot on sight'? I know you want to kill me, so why should I do as you ask?"

"_Because of simple logic my girl. We want you, and only you. If you come with us we will have no need to detonate the bomb. If you refuse … well I don't have time to play cat and mouse all night with you. I'll walk out of here and blow the entire building apart. That way I'll know you're dead. The only way you can save your friends is to do as I say."_

Fair enough. She ground her teeth and glanced around, searching for some way out of this. "I can't have pissed you off enough to warrant this kind of attention. Won't you at least tell me why?"

"_No. You're stalling for time. Four minutes thirty-five."_ He cut transmission, leaving Lady to sit in silence and ponder the answer for herself. Except that she couldn't ponder for long, the clock, as ever, was ticking away.

Lady had gon up against Dante in the past and usually lost. She'd never beaten him yet, that was for sure, and _this_ one wasn't even as nice as the real Dante. She had no doubt he'd be just as deadly though. That's why they made him, after all.

Various plans and strategies whirled through her mind. Suddenly the words of an old friend marched forth from the deep recesses of her memory; _'Plans can go wrong. Plans are something that rely on circumstances going the way you want them to. Circumstances change beyond your control. The one constant is You. Your skill. Your talent. These are things you can depend upon.'_

The words of her combat instructor, Aiyana. A wise Hunter who had taught Lady skill with firearms that went beyond the simple basics. Aiyana had turned Lady into a strong warrior capable of overcoming Demons that far outnumbered her, or seemed otherwise unbeatable. All enemies, no matter how powerful or strong, had their weaknesses. Everything had a Persian Flaw.

Lady sighed and tossed her rifle away. He wanted her? Fine. She'd give him what he wanted. Be it on his own head though, if he chose to underestimate her …

---

Dvorak folded his arms and nodded in approval. Oh, she'd done well. Better than he'd expected. She wouldn't run though, not now. Lady was human and more than that, liked to play the hero. Hero's wouldn't flee to save their own skins if innocent lives were in danger. It was something you could count on.

So sure was he that he had recalled all remaining teams to the front Lobby. Reinforcements had arrived and poured in to bolster his troops. Now the entrance Lobby was positively crowded with black-clad soldiers, all waiting to kill that pesky annoyance, the thorn in Webster's paw.

He glanced at his watch, sneered and tapped his radio. "Your time is up." He said.

"Tricky business, Time." Said Lady. Dvorak snapped his gaze up. Over two dozen rifles followed, aiming at the figure of the woman in her laughable pink pyjamas. She stood upon the first floor stairwell, leaning on the railings casually, as if nothing were amiss. "It's turning out to be much more complex than I ever thought."

She tossed something at his feet. He glanced down and saw that it was her gun belt and holsters. "Come on down." He said, glaring back up at her and smiling with all the warmth of an arctic frost.

Lady vaulted over the railings and landed in the middle of the Lobby. The two nearest soldiers immediately rushed forwards, rifles aimed unerringly at her head. "Be gentle, now." Lady said.

Dvorak snorted and kicked her weapons away. "Kill her."

Lady shot her hands out, gripping the silencers on the end of each rifle and leaning back, just as the two men fired. The shots ripped into each other, shredding through their torsos in a dark spray of blood. As they started to fall, she whirled around the one on her right and twisted him round, just as the rest of the troops opened fire.

_I will teach you to wield the gun as skilfully and gracefully as others wield a sword. _Aiyana had said._ You will learn to dance a ballet of bullets and become the Harlequin Gunslinger._

Lady began back stepping swiftly, dragging the dead man and using him as a human shield whilst she reached down and whipped the TMP machine pistol from his side. She pushed him forwards and rolled, coming up firing. A brief spray of bullets, dropping two soldiers instantly. She flung the weapon at the next nearest man, who flinched and turned away.

Again she dropped and rolled, this time coming up next to her gun belts. She whipped out her two auto pistols and stood, just as the tide of black Merc's advanced, firing.

She somersaulted high into the air above them, rotating like a corkscrew whilst firing a volley of shots mid-air. Three men dropped as she landed right in the middle of the remaining crowd.

_Do not aim. Aiming takes time. Time is precious in battle. You must strike swift and sure, anticipating the most statistically probable location of your opponents. Predict their movements in advance, and fire without looking. Learn to feel the battle around you intuitively._

Lady stood stock-still now. Only her arms moved, whipping around in a series of decisive movements, firing, moving, firing, moving. All the while her head remained firmly fixed, staring straight ahead. Only her arms shifted as they pivoted, spun, turned and fired along a circular axis.

_Timing is everything. The best way to survive a gunfight is to shoot the enemy before he shoots you. The most efficient way to win is with speed. You must strike pre-emptively against your enemies, eliminating them before they can strike back._

Men tried to raise their weapons and fire, but were dropped by the overwhelming swiftness and accuracy of her attacks. Bodies piled up around her as her pistols flared, each time spelling death.

Finally her pistols clicked empty. She ejected the spent clips and tossed the guns into the air, pulling two spare mags tucked into her waistband and back flipping up after the weapons. She met them on the way down, slapped the fresh clips home, grasped the handles and fired, dropping two more men.

_Experience teaches likelihood's. In time you will learn to sense your opponents next probable attack before they are even aware of it themselves._

By now the crowd was thinning. Lady stepped over the fallen bodies and advanced. Several soldiers stumbled back and raised their rifles, ready to shoot her in the back. Lady fired over her shoulder, whipped her arms around and fired straight out either side. Four more fell dead. Not once did she so much as glance at any of them.

_Strike first, firing upon the most probable attack vector whilst positioning yourself in the least statistically vulnerable location for return fire. Stack the odds in your favour by eliminating the randomness of traditional gunfights, and you will emerge victorious._

She crossed her hands over and fired, dropping two more before they could shoot her. Now only one soldier remained standing. He shot a panicked look around at the scores of dead littering the Lobby. He glanced at Lady, seemed about ready to run, and then noticed that the slides of her pistols had locked; she was empty again.

As his courage returned and he raised his rifle in her direction, she ejected one of the empty clips from her pistols. The metal container tumbled towards the ground and she kicked out at it with her right foot, sending the spent magazine spinning towards the man.

It struck him in the face, knocking him off balance. As he recovered, Lady appeared in front of him. She lashed another kick out at his kneecap, which gave way with a disconcerting sound. The man screamed. Lady stepped back and let her hand flash out, striking him in the throat with the handle of her empty pistol. He gurgled and fell to the floor.

Behind her, she heard the sound of clapping. Turning and dropping the empty pistols, she saw Dvorak step over a body, quietly applauding her.

"Brilliant." He said. "Absolutely brilliant. Now, why don't you show me what you intend to do about _me_?"

Lady narrowed her eyes at him and stepped smartly forward. As she did, her foot plunged down on the end of a rifle dropped by one of the many dead soldiers. It pivoted and flipped into the air, where she grabbed it and twirled it into her hands, firing instantly at that arrogant, smiling face.

Dvorak jerked and staggered from the multiple impacts. Finally, the G36 clicked empty and Lady lowered the weapon, smoke oozing from the red-hot barrel. She watched as the numerous bullet wounds in his chest and face closed, healing in mere seconds just as they did when she had shot Dante. Of course. What had she expected?

Dvorak leaned forwards and narrowed his mouth into a funnel. A trickle of bullets coated in slick red blood poured out and tinkled to the floor. He stood upright and adjusted his now bullet-riddled jacket and tie.

"My turn." He said, flicking his wrists. Two handguns shot out from his sleeves and fell into his gloved hands. He whipped them up and fired instantly at Lady, the bullets tearing towards her surprised face at super sonic speeds …


	23. Chapter 23

This is perhaps one of the strangest chapters I have ever written. One of the advantages of writing a story is that, since you sometimes have a pretty good idea how it will all turn out, you can try and pull things like this off.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XXIII_

Lady wrenched her rifle up in front of her face. The weapon snapped out of her grasp as it was impacted by the shots, the splintered metal and plastic clattering to the floor.

She was already moving; diving for her gunbelt again as Dvorak stepped forwards, shooting again and again. Metal slugs whistled dangerously close, one even grazing her arm, ripping a hole in her sleeve.

She sprang to her feet as Dvorak approached, firing point blank. Gunbelt in hand, she whirled it across and wrapped it around his outstretched arms, twisting them aside so that his next shots went wide. A punch connected with his jaw, causing him to snarl and wrench at his tangled hands.

Lady pulled out the Cobra (The name she had decided for Zack's anti-demon gun) and stepped back, firing it at Dvorak's chest. He twisted aside, causing the blue-green flare of light to earth itself against the far wall, whilst he kicked out against her shin. She stumbled away whilst he dropped his pistols and slithered his hands free of her impromptu net.

"I'm going to skin you alive you freaking bitch!" He swore at her, dodging another Cobra blast and reaching down across his back, sliding two huge, wicked looking daggers out of their sheathes. He brought them around, their wide silvery blades bursting into flames.

The Cobra pistol was swiped from her grasp and she stumbled back, clutching at her burned hand.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Dvorak sneered, brandishing the twin fire blades with intentional malice and hatred. Lady glowered at him and curled her hands around in a complex gesture. They became enveloped in a sparkling cloud of frost, which materialised into a pair of clawed gauntlets and greaves.

"Not as much as this will." She shot back. Dvorak sneered and leapt at her, swinging his daggers in a wide arc at her throat. Lady swayed back out of their reach, punched across and pinned his right dagger to his chest with one of her Ice Gauntlets. Dvorak let out a grimace of pain as the zero-temp frost blades bit into his flesh, freezing his blood.

Lady drove her other fist straight towards his face. There was a flicker of movement and the tri-claws halted less than an inch from his blue eyes. Dvorak's other fire dagger was lodged against her armoured knuckles, holding them in place away from him, just barely.

The raw elemental force of the two weapons crackled and hissed, Fire and Ice meeting in opposition, each vying for victory over the other.

Dvorak growled and brought his knee across, jamming it painfully into Lady's kidney. She buckled and he used her momentary lapse to push her away, smacking the hilt of both daggers into the sides of her head. She stumbled back and tripped over a dead soldier, landing in a sprawled heap upon the floor, too dazed to react.

Dvorak stepped over her, his feet pinning her arms to the ground as he raised his daggers threateningly. Lady stared, mesmerized by the liquid flames that danced around the silvery metal.

"Die." Was all he said, thrusting the blades down at her. He was suddenly struck by a crackling bolt of energy that writhed over his body, enveloping him in a halo of electrical fire. He screamed and staggered back, weapons clattering from his hands whilst he twitched and jerked, as if having a seizure.

Lady glanced around and saw a woman dressed in the same black combat gear as the Uroboros Merc's. She stood by the foot of the Lobby stairs, holding the Cobra that had been knocked from Lady's hands. The charge around Dvorak subsided and he stopped shaking. Breathing deep and shallow, he slowly turned his head to fix the newcomer with a spiteful glare.

"You messed with the wrong Lady, Dvorak." The woman said, lowering the Cobra and raising a black pistol that seemed familiar to Lady. Dvorak started towards her, when a bullet erupted from the barrel of the gun. It thudded into his head, jerking it back and sending a spray of blood against the far wall.

Dvorak looked puzzled for a moment, as if he had just mentally added two and two and come up with five. His eyes crossed and he slowly keeled over, dead before he hit the ground.

Lady was too shocked to speak. The woman in black holstered her pistol and walked over. She leaned down and offered Lady a hand up. Lady dismissed her Frost Weapons and took her hand, wincing from a sharp pain in her head as she was pulled up onto her feet.

"You're that 'suspicious individual' they were talking about." Lady said, taking the Cobra pistol from the woman when she offered it. She couldn't see her saviours face, because like the Uroboros thugs she wore a black hood that revealed only her eyes.

Strangely however, her eyes where odd. One was blue. The other was red. The woman stepped back and peeled her hood off, causing Lady to gasp. She found herself face-to-face with … herself!

"Oh gods!" She groaned. "_Please_ tell me those bastards didn't make a copy of me as well!"

The other Lady laughed. "Ha! I knew you were going to say that! It's what I said when I was in your place."

"What?" Lady asked confused.

"I'm not a manikin like him." Lady2 explained, pointing at the now deceased Dvorak on the ground. "I'm you, from the future!"

Lady was stumped. Not the answer she had expected. "Prove it." She said after a moments thought. "What number am I thinking of?"

"Twelve and a half." Lady2 replied without a seconds pause.

"What's my favourite food?"

"Banana Bonanza."

"What-" Lady began, until Lady2 smoothly interrupted her;

"A cuddly Penguin called Mr. Snuggles."

Lady was stunned. Ok, so not a copy. Besides, there _were_ some differences. Lady2 had her hair cut short just as she used to have. She had that scar across her nose, but another scar ran across her left cheek. She didn't _look_ much older though. In fact she didn't look _any_ older.

"I don't know how far in the future." Lady2 explained, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Its tricky to keep track when you're travelling. A couple of weeks at least." She stepped back and raised her arm. On her wrist she had the Bangle of Time, which she activated, causing a familiar negative Blink as time zipped to a halt. "There, now we can take our time. Zack managed to call for help, they'll be here in a few minutes but I need to tell you some things first."

Lady's head was swimming, and not just because of the blow to the head Dvorak had given her. She glanced down at the dead manikin and shivered. It may not have _been_ Dante, but seeing Dvorak lying dead there was close enough to give her the shivers. "At least this thing works." She said, examining the Cobra pistol.

"Yes it does." Said Lady2. "And it's a lifesaver, so make damn sure you don't lose it."

"What are you doing here?" Lady asked her Time-Hopping self, stretching and wincing from the various scrapes and bruises she had accumulated.

Lady2 sighed. "It's a long story. Suffice it to say Daniel Webster the head of Uroboros, has been messing with history. At least not yet, anyway, but he _will_. Soon." She waved her hands in frustration, trying to search for four-dimensional words of explanation that she didn't have. The English language wasn't designed for this sort of thing. "He's actually a Devil Knight named Mephistopheles, but he takes human shape. He's very dangerous and _extremely_ cunning. Smartest Demon I've ever seen. He has, or rather _will_ steal the Time Sands from the Oracle in the Temple of Ages. That's the one we went to last year, remember? Of course you do. He uses – _will­ _use_ – _the power of the Sands to travel through time and tamper with history. And he doesn't like me very much."

"What have you done?" Lady asked in accusatory tones, crossing her arms and leaning against a bullet riddled pillar.

"I've been messing up all his plans. He wasn't terribly enthusiastic about that, as you might expect, and sent these goons -" She stopped and prodded one of the corpses with the toe of her boot. "To come back in time and kill me. Or rather, kill you. I followed them back disguised as one of them," She gestured at her Uroboros get-up, smiling. "And helped you out. Since I used to _be_ you, I remembered pretty well what I was meant to do already, which was quite an advantage."

Wow. Was all Lady could think. Time really is way more complex than she ever thought. She sighed heavily and slid down the pillar, sitting down on the floor before she fainted. She winced as she sat on a brass bullet casing, flicking it out from under her before sitting back down again. "Ok. Now what?"

Lady2 knelt down in front of her, grinning. It was disconcerting looking at herself in this way. Clones were bad enough, but she could _feel_ some strange connection with her. Eventually, Lady would end up coming Full Circle and would find herself sitting there, opposite herself, grinning like that and watching _herself_ from the past. It was enough to make your head explode if you tried to think about it for too long.

Sort of like those carpets with the pattern of blue and gold dragons. You could either see it as gold dragons on a blue background or blue dragons on a gold background. If you tried to see both dragons at once however, small but vital parts of your brain would overload and shut down.

"Well," Said Lady2 still grinning. "_You_ have a lot of work ahead of you. In a way I kind of envy you because I know exactly what you have coming, and it'll be fun. But in the meantime, you have to get packed to go to Highgate. And by that, I mean as soon as we're done talking."

"What?" Lady gave a disbelieving groan. She was _tired!_ Good at fighting she may have been but she _needed_ rest, she was only human after all.

"_Because_, pretty soon people are going to start asking questions, and if you stick around here for too long then you wont get there in time. Let Tony and Zack explain everything, _you_ just make sure you're on your way to Highgate before 5:00AM. Don't worry, you can get some rest once you're there." She stopped and glanced at the Time Bangle on her wrist, her expression taking on a more urgent look. "There's a Time Statue in room 317 of the Motel there, use it to upgrade the Bangle and some of your weapons. You'll also meet someone there called Persephone, say Hi to her for me. Actually, you better not she wont know you yet."

Lady stared at herself … or rather, at Lady2. A thousand questions whirled through her mind, but she could see that Lady2 was fighting to pick out important things to tell her with what little time they had left, and so kept her mouth shut.

"Watch your neck when she's around though." She added, frowning.

"Why?" Lady asked, puzzled by this bit of information.

"Persephone is a vampire."

"What?"

"Don't look so worried!" Lady2 waved her hands and smiled impishly. "She wont kill you, she thinks we're hot. She's a little Gay. Which is good, use that to your advantage because you _will_ need her help."

Lady filed this information under 'Deeply Disturbing' and fought the urge to burst out with any number of comments or questions currently stampeding through her bemused head at that moment.

"A few other things - Rex means King, and you have to put the Rainbow in sequence to open the entrance. Don't ask what that means yet, you'll know when the time comes." Lady2 sighed and glanced longingly at her. "I wish I could trade places, but I have things to do. Here, take this and for Gods sake don't lose it! And don't forget to pass it on when it's your turn." She reached around and unclipped a small black belt pouch from her combat harness. This was passed to Lady, who unzipped it and peered inside. It had various bits and pieces, ranging from keys to semi-precious stones, a few alchemy stars and a slip of folded paper. She glanced up at her other self, who was smiling again.

"What is this all for?" She asked.

"You'll see. It's a bit like that film Paycheck, with Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman."

"I haven't seen it."

"Neither have I." Admitted Lady2. "Ask Tony about it before you leave. Just make sure -"

"That I'm on the way to Nevada before 5:00AM, I got it." She sighed, interrupting herself.

"Time for me to split." Said Lady2. She leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Lady's cheek, then stood and reached her hand over to the Time Bangle. "I'd wish you luck, but I know you'll be fine." She added. There was a reverse Blink as the flow of time resumed, but Lady2 was gone – vanished into thin air. Lady herself blinked and stared at the empty space where she had stood.

"That was just weird on _so_ many levels." She said, staring at the belt pouch and trying to fight off the overwhelming sensation of vertigo and Deja-Vu at the same time.


	24. Chapter 24

EDIT - Sorry, I missunderstood. It's almost 1AM where I am so you'll have to exscuse me. What am I doing up this late? Not a clue. I started getting Insomnia ever since I finished reading Stephen King's Insomnia novel. Damn him.

The all in white thing comes from the fact Mephistopheles is an old friend of Sparda who sided with him in the Rebellion (In my stories anyway). My idea is that the legend of Lucifer is in fact a retelling of the Sparda myth (With Sparda as Lucifer) just with Christian colouring. Mephistopheles is a fallen angel who was in fact the first Angel to side with Lucifer in his rebellion and angels are sometimes represented as normal humans wearing all white. I'm afraid I have no idea who you are talking about as to who you were going to write. In my fic Webster and Sparda are war buddies and almost brothers, so I wrote him as being almost how I imagined Sparda as being, just less compassionate.

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XXIV_

The chopper cut a path through the blizzard, the howling torrent of snowflakes slapping at the vehicle as it began its descent into the low lying valley. Its spinning blades slowed to a deep Whum-Whum as it touched down upon the small Helipad that had been constructed on site.

There was no red carpet, but every employee of Uroboros who happened to be here in this icy little corner of Tibet was nonetheless present and as smartly turned out as was possible under the circumstances. It was not often that the head CEO of one of the worlds leading International Corporations decided to personally put in an appearance.

Surprisingly however, the mysterious Daniel Webster did not arrive with a large security detail or even any personal bodyguards. This spoke of either a man who was very careless or very confident. The only thing wrong was that it spoke of a man, whilst Mr. Webster was anything but.

David Trotsky, the Senior Executive in charge of the excavation (At least since Darius had expired anyway) stepped forwards to greet the 'man' himself, as he emerged from the dark interior of the helicopter. Even though the blades had slowed considerably, the engine noise still made it impossible to say anything audible and so he restricted himself to gestures in order to show Webster the way.

Daniel Webster was a peculiar and somewhat unsettling sight. He was quite tall, with an average build that dressed itself in a very old fashioned but nevertheless expensive white suit, which looked as if it belonged in an Agatha Christie novel. On top of this he wore white shoes, white gloves and a white scarf, tucked in over a white tie. The overall effect was of someone who gleamed brighter than the snow around him.

He gave off the air of an extremely confident if somewhat arrogant aristocratic gentleman of leisure, albeit one from the early fifties. The effect was somewhat ruined by his face; it was long and gaunt, with a square jaw, steely grey eyes framed by slick grey hair, and an expression of near-terminal superiority that examined everything around it in an almost bored, lazy fashion. When he looked at someone - no matter who that someone was - he gave off the impression that he was doing them a tremendous favour merely by acknowledging their existence. A small detail that could be swiftly rectified if he felt the least bit inclined.

Trotsky led them down the now vacant and empty stone passageways of the Temple, towards the very same lift that Darius had taken not so long ago. Daniel Webster uttered not a word, nor did he even seem to acknowledge Trotsky's presence. The only activity beyond simple walking he took involved producing an old Gold pocket watch, glancing casually at the time and then replacing it in his jacket pocket.

When they reached the security checkpoint, which was currently unmanned and contained only automated Defence Drones, Trotsky deactivated them with his ID card and made to continue on.

"You will remain here." Webster stated. Trotsky's limbs immediately locked themselves in place, as if something had reached into his brain and flipped a switch labelled 'Stop'. Without even glancing across at him, the CEO of Uroboros strode past and disappeared around the next corner.

When he was gone Trotsky found he could move again. He removed his thermal hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. It was actually much colder inside the Temple of Ages than it was in the freezing snow outside, and yet his nerves felt on fire. He let out a sigh of relief that he was, for the present at least, free of his Boss' presence.

Daniel Webster lacked anything as crude as simple Charisma. He merely behaved in such a way that anything that did not conform to his will was a scientific and universal impossibility. The worrying thing was, after spending even a few seconds with him you were quite ready to believe that this was indeed the case …

Webster came to a stop several dozen feet away from the steps that led up to the Oracle Statue. The Monk, Epoch, still remained sitting cross-legged in front of the magnificent golden edifice. As soon as he became aware that he was not alone, his wise and knowing eyes flicked open and focused on the gentleman in white.

"Mephistopheles." He said, not so much a greeting as it was an observation. For the first time something approaching a smile flickered across Webster's face, though the length of time it existed could have been measured by the finest Atomic clock.

"You know who I am. But of course." He said in a bored tone of voice. "You are a servant of the Time God Aeon, who is all-knowing and all-seeing. No doubt then you know why I am here."

Epoch stood, clasping his hands together and meeting Webster's gaze with the same deadpan expression he had given Darius. "You have come to take what is not yours. You have no right to steal the essence of Time itself."

Webster raised a delicately gloved hand to his mouth, stifling a yawn. "Time is something that belongs to all of us. It exists everywhere and taking what I have come for would no more go noticed than a child taking a drop of water from an ocean."

"You will leave now." Said Epoch, veiling his words with a threatening shroud.

Webster glanced again at his pocket watch, looking supremely unconcerned. His mannerisms suggested that he saw this whole charade as a tiresome chore that was eating away at his own valuable time. "Indeed I shall. But first …" He advanced towards the stairs.

"Come no further." Epoch warned. When Webster showed no indication that he had heard, the Monk stepped back and formed his hands into the same complex gesture as before – his gracefully weaving digits seeming to occupy several points in space simultaneously. A gentle breeze washed over Webster, just as it had done to the soldiers before, who now existed only as motes of dust upon the floor.

Nothing, however, happened.

Webster continued to advance, his white shoes clicking off the steps as he ascended towards Epoch and the Oracle behind him. Not a hair was out of place, not a single line or wrinkle appeared on his composed face.

Frowning, Epoch took another step back. Just as Webster reached the top of the steps, the dark-haired Monk swept his hand across in a wide arc. A rippling distortion wave erupted from his palm, expanding rapidly and pouring over the Uroboros Executive like liquid air.

Any affect this was meant to have spectacularly failed to appear. Daniel Webster stopped half a dozen feet from the puzzled Monk and flicked his left hand idly around, like a magician performing some slight of hand. A glittering jewel appeared in his grasp. He turned it this way and that, examining it with interest.

Epoch recognised it at once; it was a Samsara, a type of relic designed to neutralise time rifts and distortions. His eyes widened, more from surprise than actual fear.

"Naturally you did not think I would come to the sacred Temple of Ages unprepared?" Webster asked, not taking his eyes off the Samsara in his hand. He raised his right and snapped his fingers, like a conjurer signalling his next trick.

A black pool of darkness erupted from the ground beneath Epoch's feet. It spread in mere moments, forming a relatively wide circle, the black surface of which rippled and shimmered like ink spreading across water. Epoch stared down at it in horror as he began to sink into the darkness. He tried to tug his feet free but he was trapped as surely if he were standing in a pool of quicksand. The more he struggled the faster he sank. In seconds he had vanished down to his waist, then his neck. Finally his head slipped beneath the swirling black vortex, which shrank into nothingness.

Which was all that remained of the Monk. There was no indication now that he had ever been there, not even a gently smoking sandal.

The Samsara vanished back to wherever he kept it as Webster lowered his hands. He gazed up at the glorious golden statue of the Time God, bearing aloft its great glass sand timer. Silently, he stepped forwards and raised his hands over his head. The effect was immediate; the glass instantly shattered, the shards spinning away through the air in slow motion, almost like the air had taken on the texture of amber.

Glittering golden sands poured from the shattered hourglass and arced down towards Daniel Webster, who closed his eyes as the fine powder formed a cloud around him that seeped into his flesh before vanishing altogether.

He stepped back and lowered his arms to his sides. Anyone who happened to be watching would notice that he was, in fact, glowing. A halo of white light Thrummed all around him. It faded as he stepped back again, his eyes still clamped shut, though moving rapidly beneath his closed lids as if he were in a deep REM sleep.

He tilted his head back to stare up at the distant ceiling. Now a brilliant, blinding gold light shone in dazzling trails around his outline. It seemed at once like he was standing before the sun itself. Finally he opened his eyes …

They were orbs of molten gold, with pupils shaped in a figure of eight – a Moebius Strip symbolising infinity, just as the Uroboros serpent - which swallowed its own tail - represented.

The Temple of Ages began to shudder as deep tremors shot through the incredibly ancient structure. Massive stone, granite and limestone blocks collapsed inwards as the entire thing imploded in on itself. The Uroboros people on the surface all scattered, heading for the nearest vehicle in a desperate bid to escape before another avalanche buried the shallow valley in a mountain of compacted ice.

As chaos reigned and destruction ripped its merry way through the Time Gods Monastery, Daniel Webster strode through it all completely untouched, his eyes staring into space whilst his mind blazed with the possibilities.

Time was his to command … the primal force that separated Past, Present and Future, that ticked away each moment of every persons life and drove an arrow through the universe in one single direction; onwards.

If Time were a river, then Daniel Webster was now a Dam. Devastation reigned all around him in a deafening cacophony of mayhem and at last a true smile did find its way onto his twisted features, as alien a sight as the face upon Mars.

_Time to shake things up_, thought Mephistopheles.


	25. Chapter 25

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**Devil May Cry: Full Circle**

_PART XXV_

The long dusty road stretched on for seemingly endless miles. Lady stared at it in a daze, watching the lines zip past. Driving at high speed whilst being half-asleep was a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Normally. Lady, however, had a fortuitous piece of insight and was not worried.

After all, she couldn't actually die, could she? Not for a while at least. If she did, then she wouldn't be able to travel back in time and help herself, which would give rise to all kinds of paradoxes. True, it would be stupid to get careless, but the knowledge that she _was_ going to make it through the next few weeks at least, alive and well, was almost like a safety net.

She blinked and shook her head, fighting to stay awake. What she needed was a distraction. Something to occupy her mind during the long, lonely interstate drive. Her left hand wandered, and brushed against the black belt pouch that contained the assorted … 'things' that her future self had given her.

"Lets see what's so important then." She murmured, unzipping it and reaching inside. Her probing hand immediately touched upon the slip of folded paper. She glanced down, pulling it out and flipping it open. What pearls of wisdom had she written down for herself? What helpful prophecy was contained on this harmless little scrap of paper?

"Keep your eyes on the road …" She read, frowning. Her eyes widened suddenly and she glanced up, just in time to see that she had drifted across to the other side of the road and now had a large tanker truck bearing down on her. She grabbed the wheel and wrenched it, swerving the car aside and narrowly missing the huge steel juggernaut. The two vehicles flashed past at over sixty miles an hour, so close she could have reached out and touched it without stretching.

Her heart was still beating fast a minute later, the adrenalin kick making her wide awake and alert now. She risked a minute glance at the piece of paper, then stuffed it back into the pouch, zipping the thing back up.

"Very funny." She muttered, concentrating on the drive now. Ten minutes later and she finally caught sight of her destination – the small town of Highgate, Nevada. As she pulled up and parked outside the local gas station, Lady couldn't help but recall that the place was named after a famous graveyard in England.

Which was quite appropriate. As she slammed her car door shut and raised some shades to her eyes, her searching gaze took in the run-down location; a collection of dusty old buildings with grimy windows and faded signs. There were no other cars or vehicles in sight, nor another living soul for that matter.

As the hot, stinging sand bit into her flesh from the slight desert breeze, Lady strode into the seeming Ghost Town, adjusting her denim jacket over the holstered _Luce & Ombra_.

"Hello?" She called out, walking up to the gas station door. It was locked, the sign saying that it was closed. Lady knocked loudly, then cupped her hands and peered inside. It was difficult to tell from the glare of the sun, but she couldn't see anyone inside.

"Creepy …" She said under her breath, turning away. Sighing, she pushed through a rusted metal gate and stepped into the shade of a cluster of squat buildings, wrinkling her nose as she did. What a smell! Like … rotten meat. Roadkill, or something. There was a noise from up ahead, a kind of … what? Hard to say.

"Hello? Anyone here?" She called out, feeling extremely foolish as she did so. Sand crunching beneath the soles of her combat boots, Lady rounded the corner and found herself staring at a number of upended rubbish skips and bins.

And scavenging through them was a large grey werewolf. Hearing her approach, it raised its nose in her direction, sniffed her scent from the air and snorted. It barred its teeth, snarling, dropped onto all fours and sprang at her in a sudden burst of speed, fangs bared and ready to rend her flesh.

It was struck mid-air by the crackling energy bolt, the electrical whine of the Cobra pistol in Lady's hand filling the small, dusty alleyway. The creature fell to the floor at once, twitching and howling as the currents writhed around its hairy body. Ombra was already out and in her other hand as she stepped up to the shaking wolfman, but by then it had stopped moving altogether. It lay, curled up, its jaw hanging open with thick rivulets of saliva dripping from its teeth.

Interesting. Apparently the dog people didn't like Zack and Solstices' little Demon-Tazer very much. It didn't just weaken them, it killed them outright.

Lady plugged a double-tap in its head just to be sure, then holstered her weapons and looked around.

"I guess that answers a few questions …" She mused, staring down at the dead werewolf again. If Highgate was overrun by monsters then it was a fair bet that the occupants had either been eaten, slaughtered or hightailed it out of here altogether.

Lady stepped out of the alley and back into the shaded area as she pulled out her satellite phone and hit the speed dial. The screen displayed a "_Please Wait…_" for a few seconds before Tony's boyish grin appeared.

"Hey Lady. Are you there yet?"

"Yes, I arrived a few minutes ago. Town's deserted. Just ran across a werewolf scavenging for food."

"You're ok I assume?"

"Of course. I put it down with that anti-demon gun. They don't seem to like it very much. Kills them dead with one shot."

"Sweet!" Tony looked impressed, she could tell even from the small image of him on the videophone. "I'm afraid you're on your own though, Lady. Everything is still a mess over here. Ethan and the AD are furious. They want answers and they weren't happy to hear you had split so soon after that attack."

Lady shrugged. Working for Division was a good deal, and the backup was certainly helpful. But she could do the job just fine on her own anyway, and besides, _they_ had come looking for _her_, not the other way around. If they didn't like how she did things then hard lines.

"I'll be fine." She told him sincerely. And she _would_, that was the thing. Bizarre though her Time-Twin encounter had been, it had left her with a reassuring feeling. "I'll check in again an hour from now. Lady out." She tapped the Off switch, disconnecting the line and tucking the phone away again.

So, time to start searching! The town wasn't that big, and according to Solstice it held many secrets to be uncovered. Even though the eerily quiet atmosphere hung in the air like an unsettling mirage, Lady felt completely at ease. This was what she did for a living! Investigating creepy, abandoned places filled with all manner of weird and wonderful mysteries …

Who knew what lurked around the next corner? Through the next door? Or even beneath your very feet?

_Click_

It was a quiet sound, almost lost to the gentle desert breeze. Lady's keen hearing picked it up nevertheless. She had meandered through several alleyways and emerged at a stretch of dry ground at the outskirts of the town. About halfway across it, she had felt something solid underfoot, followed by that faint noise.

Slowly, with painful caution, she lowered her gaze and stared at the round outline buried an inch or so beneath the sand and dirt.

_Landmine …_

"Oh wonderful." She snapped, cursing her momentary cheerfulness. This was exactly the kind of humour the Universe reserved for optimistic people. The second you start to think everything's going to be fine and you don't have to worry, and _this_ happens.

"_Do not move, lady."_ Said a voice several feet away. Lady snapped her head up, looking for the speaker. As it turned out, it really _was_ a speaker – belonging to a black boxy radio wedged between some old junk half a dozen feet away. _"You are standing on an anti-personal landmine. I strongly advise you remain right where you are." _It went on.

"Who exactly am I talking to?" She addressed the question to the radio, whilst simultaneously trying to avoid the twinges shooting up her right leg at the moment.

"_Up here, on the Water Tower."_ The radio crackled. Lady pivoted her head and winced up at the ancient structure that hung over the dusty old town. She could just make out the outline of a figure lying prone atop the thing. From the look of it he (The voice sounded male) was wearing some kind of camouflage netting, and had what appeared to be a High-Powered Sniper Rifle zeroed in on her. She feverently hoped that it was just her imagination, or a distortion from the heat.

"_Now, just who might you be?"_ He asked via the radio wedged in amongst the junk pile. _"And what the hell do you think you are doing here?"_

_Military?_ She had to wonder. Maybe, but her instincts told her he wasn't. With obvious care she reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and withdrew her ID badge, which she held up in the direction of the Water Tower. Assuming the man did have a rifle with a scope, he should be able to see the badge and card as clearly as if he were standing next to her.

"_CDC? You don't look like no Government Fed to me missy! Hell you look like a goddamned school-girl in that getup!"_

Lady sighed, regretting at that moment her choice of attire. Oh, sure, she could have dressed properly, like a conservative business woman or a super-spy all in black. But where was the fun in that? Instead, she had opted for combat boots, a miniskirt over hot pants and her denim over a tight white shirt. Having her long hair tied back in a pigtail probably hadn't helped the overall effect either, she reflected.

"I'm a Freelance Contractor, hired for special circumstances." Lady said, rolling her eyes and trying not to appear annoyed. She put the badge away and placed her hands on her hips. "Now would you mind getting down from there and helping me with _this_?" She gestured at the landmine under her foot.

There was a long pause, presumably as the mystery man considered his options. Finally he said; _"Ok, but you just wait right there, and don't try anything heroic – I seeded that whole area with mines. If you try diving off or something equally as stupid, you're liable to wind up painting the town red with your insides."_

_Oh, charming …_ Lady thought sourly. She sighed and waited, trying to resist the overwhelming urge to start tapping her foot.

All she had to do was wait. That was all. In a few minutes he would arrive and help deactivate the mine or whatever. No problem. What was there to worry about? I mean, really?

_Well,_ her mind grabbed her attention and pulled it around to her right. _There is that Demon over there, coming closer._

"Oh wonderful." Lady muttered, staring.

_Don't mention it. Just though you should know._

The Demon, a prowling Shadow, tensed and then leapt at her.


	26. Chapter 26

Wow. I never thought I'd ever end up updating this. No idea why I did, it was just an impulse kinda thing. Err, so yeah, here it is, a new chapter if anyone's interested.

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**DMC: Full Circle**

_Part XXVI_

It's not easy to surprise a Demon. They're not very imaginative creatures, except when it comes to creative forms of violence. Nevertheless the Shadow Demon that pounced at Lady was very surprised when it's apparently immobile prey suddenly vanished into thin air. In her place was a massive fireball of burning shrapnel and sand.

A chain reaction followed as all of the surrounding landmines seeded throughout the area simultaneously detonated, turning a small but significant patch of desert into a dust filled crater.

Victor Thornton felt the tremor of the blast through his combat boots and stopped in his tracks, glancing up in time to see a huge swirling mushroom cloud of dust and debris rise above the squat buildings of Highgate. Muttering under his breath, he shifted his grip on his .50 cal sniper rifle and jogged on.

He came to a stop at the edge of the blast zone, lifting a gloved hand to lower his shades as he peered through the haze of heat blasted sand and dirt.

"Hunh." He grunted. "Damned stupid girl."

He heard a snarl from somewhere amidst blasted crater and frowned. Nothing could have survived that explosion …

A pair of smouldering eyes fixed upon him and to his astonishment a huge feline form composed of swirling red energy emerged from the settling cloud and leapt at him. It was all he could do to stand and gape at the thing whilst it closed the distance between them in a heartbeat.

Lady tackled him from a side alley, shoving them both out of the monsters path. The Shadow, near-death after being at ground zero to a dozen detonating landmines, missed the two humans and landed in an open garbage skip where it promptly exploded itself.

Lady picked a piece of burnt cabbage from her hair and got to her feet, dusting herself off. Victor remained on his side, too stunned to react.

"Oh yes," she said regarding him with scorn, "I'm _very_ stupid."

"What the _hell_ was that thing?" he demanded, finding his voice and his feet at the same time. Lady smirked.

"Hell just about sums it up," she said. "That was a Demon. And by the way, you're welcome."

Victor snorted, ever the grateful one. "Demon huh? Damn, that's the last thing I need."

Lady stopped as she was about to turn away. "What do you mean by that?" she asked. Victor tapped the sand from his rifle's barrel and checked that the weapon was clear.

"Just that I've got my hands full at the moment."

"Doing what exactly?"

"Hunting a vampire."

Ah …

"Really?" said Lady sounding nonchalant. "What a coincidence, so am I."

"Is that right?" said Victor, though he wasn't so much asking a question as he was showing her open suspicion.

"Right." She said, ignoring the dangerous gleam in his eyes. She took in his appearance at a glance; heavy set thug with desert khaki's, combat webbing, lots of guns and ammo, the usual for a freelance hunter. The holy water and incendiary grenades were a nice touch, she noted. "I don't suppose you've seen her have you? Her name's Persephone and it's very important that I find her."

Victor edged back and to the side, angling his body to one side to minimise his profile toward her whilst simultaneously clasping his hands around the handle and trigger of his rifle. Lady had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, he was being so obviously aggressive it was almost painful to watch.

"Uh-huh. And why is that?"

Lady crossed her arms and sighed, obviously at ease. "Not, I suspect, to kill her like you have planned. And I would strongly advise you point that rifle elsewhere. I just saved your life, it'd be a pity to take it away so soon."

Unsurprisingly he did not take her threat seriously. He aimed the heavy-duty rifle at her chest, though at so short a distance aiming was a mere formality.

"Dirty vampire lover," the hunter spat. "You look like her type as well, pretty young thing like you is just the kind she goes for. Huh, think she'll make you a bloodsucker as well?"

Lady's eyes narrowed dangerously. Honestly, she thought, you do someone a little favour like save them from being swallowed by a self-destructing Demon, and they repay you with insults. What was the world coming to?

"Oh I can see you have me pegged," she said sarcastically. "Bang on, as it were. Now put the gun down before I have to hurt you."

He pulled the trigger. At this range a .50 cal gun would have messed her up nicely. Good thing then she had stopped time with the Bangle and emptied the ammo from all of his guns as a precaution …

"What the-?" Victor looked momentarily surprised when the rifle clicked empty. He dropped it and had his sidearm - a Browning HP - out of it's holster in the blink of an eye and trained on her. When it also clicked empty Lady couldn't help but look smug.

"Here," said Lady striding up to him, "Have a love bite – on me." And she punched him straight in the face.

* * *

"She'll call, trust me." Said Tony.

Dante drained a can of cola that Zack had given him from the inexhaustible supply he kept at Division HQ. He crumpled it up and tossed it against the far wall where it rebounded into the wastebasket. He then kicked a revolving chair around and dropped into it, placing his feet up onto a keyboard that proceeded to release a stream of random letters on the computer screen it was connected to.

"Heck, she's only-" Tony stopped and glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes late for her scheduled check in."

"I should just head down there now." said Dante, leaning his head back into his clasped hands and scowling.

"I think she can take care of herself, no offence." Said Zack, opening a fresh can of cola and taking a long draught. When he lowered it he belched loudly and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his t-shirt.

Dante shot him a glance. "It's not her I'm worried about – I'm bored out of my skull and she's off hogging all the excitement. Retirement bites."

Things were not going well at the CDC Division. Just last night an assault team of commando's had raided the building and shot the place up. They had even planted bombs and threatened to blow everything sky-high. Lady and some other mysterious person had killed or incapacitated the lot. Those that survived all died of seizures not long after being taken into custody, so there was no chance of interrogating them.

Then Lady herself had disappeared off to Nevada without a word (at least as far as her superiors were concerned, Tony and Zack had kept quiet the fact that they were in contact with her). As far as the assistant director was concerned she was fired from the agency and was to be arrested on sight.

They had a lucky break tracking down an Uroboros R&D lab, where they had encountered a clone of Lucia and one of the company's best researchers, Dr. Dvorak. However, even though Dante had showed up to aid in fending off a Demonic attack, the clone had been whisked off and the good Doctor killed. End score Uroboros 1, Them 0.

Returning to HQ Dante had avoided interrogation by making sure no one but Tony and Zack knew he was there. He had been deeply unnerved when they had shown him a body in the morgue that turned out to be his – another Uroboros clone. When they told him that Lady believed Uroboros had created an army of clones of him, he had not been overly thrilled and had been sulking ever since.

Lady was due to check in and he wanted to talk to her. Some seriously messed up stuff was going on and he wasn't going to just sit it out, especially not when a bunch of evil copies of his own lovely self were running about killing people. They were giving him a bad name!

The phone rang. Dante paid it no heed; Lady would contact HQ via a satellite uplink that would connect via a special terminal Zack had installed in the corner of his overly cluttered office. When no one moved, Tony sighed and reached over to answer the call. He held the black receiver to his ear and wearily asked who it was.

"Hey Dante," said Zack, pointing excitedly at the uplink terminal. "It's Lady!"

He was out of his chair in a flash and came to a stop beside the spiky haired caffeine addict. The terminal - a heavily modded hi-spec laptop - displayed the unmistakable features of the woman Dante had been waiting to talk to. Her long hair was tied back in a pigtail and her mismatching eyes had a mischievous look about them. She appeared to be in a dingy motel room though they could see the golden gleam of a Watcher statue behind her.

"Well it's about damn time!" snapped Dante. Lady looked taken-aback.

"Dante? What are _you_ doing there?"

Behind them, Dante heard Tony shout 'What?' loudly into the telephone. He ignored him.

"I'm just about to head out to Highgate to hook up with you." He said, leaning forward.

"What? No!"

"You're going to need my help you know."

"You're kidding!" yelled Tony, still on the phone. Zack gave him a puzzled look.

"Dante, I've got this covered ok?" insisted Lady.

"Are you sure?" said Tony, who was still speaking to someone else.

"I don't care, I'm coming down there!" said Dante. Lady screwed up her face and looked extremely annoyed. Behind him, Tony hung up the phone and looked around at them in a daze.

"Dante, I do _not_ need your help with this, are you listening?" said Lady.

Dante opened his mouth to respond when Tony tapped him on the shoulder. He shook him off. "Not right now."

"Dante, that was security." Said Tony.

"In a minute!" he snapped.

"All right," Tony cleared his throat nervously. "I just thought you'd like to know, there's someone upstairs who wants to see you."

Dante was too focused on the uplink to Lady, and he wasn't really listening. "I heard about the clones Uroboros has been making." He said. Lady stopped in mid-complaint.

"Oh."

"Yes. You might have mentioned something like this to me."

Lady looked evasive. "Maybe. I'm not so sure it's such a good thing for you to be involved in this."

"Well you thought wrong, because if I'd known these creeps were stamping out carbon copies of-" he started to say.

"He says his name is Vergil." Interrupted Tony. Dante froze. Slowly, he pivoted and stared at him.

"… say what?"


	27. Chapter 27

Woo, another update. Thanks for the reviews, I honestly didn't think anyone would still be interested in reading this. Also, thanks for the advice Sylla, things like that always get me, I've never had the knack for getting them right. Oh well, here's Part 27, let me know what you think and enjoy!

* * *

**DMC: Full Circle**

_Part XXVII_

"…did I just hear that right?" asked Lady. On the video screen of her sat-phone she saw Zack's charming face come into view.

"Hear what?" he said. "Who is Vergil anyway?"

"Let me speak to Dante."

"Can't. He just booked with Tony. Seriously, who's Vergil?"

"You mean you don't know?" Lady was surprised, but now that she thought about it Vergil hadn't built up the kind of reputation that Dante had over the years. For a good long while he wasn't even on earth … "He's Dante's twin brother."

A look of realisation dawned on Zack's face. "Ahh, that would be the cold hearted evil psycho I've heard absolutely nothing about then?"

"Well …" to be fair Lady didn't know how she felt about Vergil anymore. He often sided with the devils instead of against them as Dante had, but had teamed up with her and his brother to defeat Mundus. Not only that but he revived her after she had been killed by her demonically mutated father, so in a way she really owed him her life.

"Look," she said at last, "just be careful. Last I heard of Vergil he was-" _The new King of Hell_ "-a long way away and very busy." She said instead. "It could be another trap or ploy that Uroboros is trying."

Zack shrugged and took a drink cola. "Yeah well I'm sure Dante will be able to tell if it's really his evil twin or just a copycat."

"Zack, Lucia and Trish were clones as well. Don't underestimate them. And if I were you I'd start making another one of those anti-demon guns. We're probably going to need as many as possible."

From the bathroom Lady heard moaning and rattling sounds. She sighed and said; "Look, I have to get going. It might be a while before I check in again so let Tony know. And tell Dante I DON'T need his help over here."

"Well if his brother _has_ shown up I think he'll have his hands full." Said Zack, downing the last of his cola, tossing it and immediately opening another. "Have fun!" he waved as Lady disconnected and stowed the phone away on her belt.

Sighing again, Lady strode across the dim motel room and pushed open the bathroom door. There, tied and handcuffed to a chair in the shower cubicle, was the vampire hunter Victor Thornton. He growled as she entered and issued a stream of curses and threats that were muffled by the gag Lady had tied around his mouth to shut him up. Victor was a man of … colourful language.

"Now, where was I?" she said, picking up a sleek black PDA she had found on him whilst searching him for concealed weapons (and boy, had _that_ taken a while). She tapped the power on and started scanning through its contents.

"Well well well." Said Lady, opening an interesting file. The image of a blond haired woman with fangs and ruby red eyes appeared, along with a list of personal details and known info underneath it. Of more interest was the $750,000 bounty notice posted next to the Uroboros logo in the corner. She turned the PDA around and showed it to her captive, who glowered at her in return.

"Seems this Persephone woman has really pissed off Uroboros. And here I thought _I_ was the only one they wanted dead."

Victor muttered a muffled swearword as Lady skimmed through what little info there was on her. Not much. The bounty didn't specify dead or alive, Uroboros just wanted Persephone out of the way from the look of it. Well, thought Lady, the enemy of my enemy …

She yawned and stretched. Man, she was tired. It was mid-afternoon already and she'd been on the road here for hours, and that was _after_ she went ten rounds with a crack squad of Uroboros' commandos. If she didn't get some sleep she was going to drop.

"Well future me _did_ say I would be ok to rest here." She murmured aloud. Dropping Victors PDA in the sink with a satisfying clunk, she left the Merc tied up and slammed the door shut behind her. Stifling another yawn, she stared at the double bed that lay across the room invitingly.

"Maybe if I just have a little nap …" she said, dropping herself onto the soft mattress. She was out before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

"Dante, wait a second!" Tony called after the running figure in red as it vanished around a corner. He took the corner himself and tore up the stairs after the devil hunter, struggling to keep up. "Dante! You can't just walk right up to security – they'll know you're here and it'll be all kinds of trouble!"

Dante however was not listening. He took the stairs up four at a time and headed immediately for the main entrance hall. Tony finally caught up to him a few seconds later, puffing heavily, hands on his knee's. When he recovered enough he surveyed the scene before them.

The bodies had all been cleaned up since last night. So had all the spent guns and bullet casings. A lot of glass shards and rubble had been swept into the corners in a hurry and the whole place still looked pretty messed up from the huge fight that had occurred here. Tony and Zack had watched Lady confront the Uroboros assassins here, led by one of their Dante clones. It had been a very close thing.

Now however the place was packed with gun-totting security guards and CDC soldiers, all of whom had their weapons trained on a single individual standing in front of what remained of the wood panelled front desk. The shattered remains of a computer lay scattered across its bullet-riddled surface.

The man in question was the spitting image of Dante save for a few key differences; he wore a long blue overcoat instead of a red one, had his hair slicked back over his head and carried in one limp hand a long sword Tony had seen Dante use in the past. He held it out in front of him, creating an empty arc that no one dared intrude upon.

"Verge?" said Dante. Several security guards glanced over their shoulders at him, did a double take and started waving their guns back and forth between Dante and the intruder, who looked very much alike.

Vergil slowly turned his head and stared straight at his brother. Dante was shocked at the sight of him - it was Vergil he had no doubt about that, yet there was something very wrong with him; his eyes were dark and sunken into his face, his lips were grey and cracked, strange purple veins writhed and crawled under pale, ashen skin that had a waxy sheen to it. And he was trembling, the hand that held the Force Edge sword visibly shook, as if the very act of wielding it was taking an enormous amount of effort on his part. Tony thought he looked like death on legs and he certainly seemed ready to drop at any second.

"Dante," He whispered, his voice hoarse. "Help."

With that the Force Edge fell from his grasp and clattered to the floor. Vergil himself joined it a moment later, landing sprawled face down on the glossy tiles, unmoving.

* * *

Lady slowly awoke from a peaceful, dreamless slumber. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she prised them open and saw that her motel room was now pitch black, save for a thin slant of moonlight piercing the gloom from the second floor balcony outside.

Smacking her lips she reached over and on her second try managed to turn the bedside lamp on, flooding the room with a soft warm yellow light.

In the bed beside her, someone groaned and turned over.

Lady froze. With painful slowness she rotated her head and looked across at the snoozing figure of a woman lying opposite her, breathing gently with her eyes shut. It was Persephone, she could tell – she looked exactly like the image Lady had seen on Victor's PDA, she could even see the fangs from the woman's partly open mouth.

Immediately wide-awake, Lady's first reaction was to touch her hand to her neck. She felt either side for puncture marks, double checked to be sure, then let out a sigh of relief. She sat upright and cast her gaze around the motel room, which was still and silent save for the sifting sands in the hourglass the Watcher statue carried.

"Ahem." Said Lady, getting up and glaring at the undead goldilocks that was sleeping in her bed. Seeing her clearly in the lamplight, Lady took in the vampires odd appearance; long golden-blond hair framing quite a pretty face, she was almost exactly the same height as Lady but wore the oddest attire she had seen in a while. She looked like she was dressed as Dracula for a Halloween party, long black cloak and all.

Lady kicked the bed. When this still failed to rouse the sleeping vampire she leaned over the snoozing figure and shouted loudly; "WAKE UP!"

That worked. Two eyes slowly flickered open and a pair of blood red orbs blinked up at Lady. Persephone yawned widely, giving her a good look at her prominent fangs, stretched and sat up. Lady stepped back as she groggily looked about.

"Oh, is it night already?" she spoke with a gravely sort of voice, completely unabashed by the fact that she had climbed into someone else's bed whilst they were still sleeping in it.

"Persephone I presume?" said Lady, hands on her hips.

The vampire yawned again and rubbed a gloved hand against the side of her head. "You've heard of me? I see my reputation precedes me. Again. All good I trust?"

Lady thrust a copy of the Uroboros bounty notice she had transferred onto her sat-phone in front of her face. Persephone blinked at it and narrowed her crimson eyes angrily.

"Three quarters? Three lousy quarters?" she crossed her arms in a huff. "I would have thought they'd at _least_ go up to an even million. Cheapskates."

"Why are they after you in the first place? What are you doing here? How did you even get into this room without waking me up? Just who _are_ you anyway?"

Persephone winced and held her palms up to ward Lady off. "Ouch. Too many questions. I haven't even had my nightcap yet."

Impatient, Lady tucked her phone away and jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at the bathroom door behind her. "There's a vampire hunter in there who was gunning for you, you know. I caught him this afternoon, he had that bounty notice in his PDA."

Persephone's eyes widened at once and she stared past Lady with her hands clasped together. "Ooh! Breakfast!"

It took Lady a second to understand her intention. "What? Hey wait, you're not thinking of _eating_ him are you?"

"Sure. Why not? I'm hungry, he's a lowlife bounty hunter scum. QED right?"

Lady gaped at her. She's a vampire, her mind pointed out. You need her help, your future self said so. Be calm. Be cool. Don't shoot her.

Somehow Persephone had slipped off the bed and past Lady without her even noticing. Before she could stop her the vampire had pushed the bathroom door open and strode in. Grinding her teeth Lady followed her in. She found the woman staring at the shower cubicle where Victor was.

To where Victor _should_ have been.

The chair was empty. A pile of ropes, knots and cuffs lay scattered around the chair legs. _Luce_ was out of its holster before Lady even thought about it, and a moment later she was scanning the rest of the bathroom for potential hiding places. There were none. The window was open, but it was far too small for someone of Victor's size to squeeze through, surely?

"You might have said you ate him yourself." Muttered Persephone, crossing her arms and looking annoyed.

Before Lady could answer, the bathroom door slammed shut behind her. As she spun around and threw her shoulder against it, she heard something large and heavy slide in front of it on the other side.

"Dammit! He's out there now!" Lady yelled, stepping back and planting a solid kick against the door. It was no good; the damn Merc must have pushed the chest of drawers or the closet up against it.

Persephone slipped up to the door and pressed an ear against it, frowning. After a moment she stepped away.

"What?" said Lady, looking at her expression.

"Oh nothing," the vampire answered, "he just set the room on fire, that's all …"


	28. Chapter 28

Another chapter. Thanks again for reviewing :-) And umm, enjoy!

* * *

**DMC: Full Circle**

_Part XXVIII_

"He's dying."

"He's _what_?"

Vergil lay securely strapped to a table in Division's Med-lab whilst people in white coats bustled back and forth, some carrying samples in dishes and test tubes. In his current state however, the restraints (and armed guards standing by the door) were unnecessary – he was in no fit state to even sit up, let alone go on a rampage.

"I mean he's infested with millions of little demon bio-buggers that are treating his body like an all-you-can-eat buffet." Said Zack, tossing Dante a digital scan of a sample of Vergil's blood. Dante caught it and stared at the things – grotesque black-bodied insects with organic, chitinous hides and black tendrils that wrapped themselves around any cells they could find. They were microscopic versions of the Nightmare weapons he had encountered himself.

"What the hell are they?"

"A bioweapon, probably made by Uroboros since I've been seeing stuff like this crop up all over the place with their name on it. They're basically demonic nanobots that are eating his flesh at the cellular level and are breeding faster than a bunch of bunnies on viagra. If your brother was human he'd be dead already – as it is his healing powers are all that's keeping him alive."

"So … what then? His body will fight them off right?"

Zack nodded and said; "No. His immune system is doing squat to them and they're completely resistant to every kind of treatment I've flung at them. I'm telling you, if we shoved your brother in an incinerator for a few days, when we opened the door _these_ things would be all that was left."

"They die hard." Added Tony, who felt like he ought to contribute something to the conversation.

"Right. And like I said the damn things are multiplying scarily fast – it's only a matter of time before they overwhelm him and even his demon blood wont keep him alive anymore. To top it off they've broke through his blood-brain barrier and infested his little grey cells. Given some of the nastier stories I've heard about these Nightmare alphabet soup things, they're probably attacking his mind as well."

"Shit." Swore Dante, screwing up the scan, tossing it into the air and kicking it viciously against the wall. It was as bad as he had feared – Vergil would sooner cut off his right hand than ask for help, and Dante was the _last_ person he would come to. The fact that he had meant he knew how badly he was screwed.

"But you can cure him, right Zack?" said Tony. He had finally been able to take the cast off his arm, which was now wrapped in bandages instead. He flexed his fingers and winced.

Zack buffed his nails and looked at them, wearing a smug expression. "Well you know I am a total genius, and by fortuitous happenstance-"

"What?" Tony blustered, disbelieving.

"-I also happen to be the worlds foremost expert on Demonology and Bio-technology." Zack continued smoothly.

"Can you or cant you?" said Dante.

"Weeeell … yes and no."

Tony kicked him in the shin. Zack yelped and glared at him. "Look," he said, "it's not that easy. If we do nothing he certainly _will_ die. I have an idea that should kill the bugs but it might kill Vergil as well!"

"So basically we've got a choice between certain death and … almost certain death?" said Dante. Zack thought about this then nodded. "Well then it's pretty obvious. So what's the plan?"

"The demon gun Solstice made." Said Tony, realising where Zack was going with this. Zack shot him an annoyed look.

"Excuse me, that _I_ made. And yes, that should do the trick nicely."

"Wow, slow down and backup for a second," Dante said holding his hands up, "_what_ demon gun?"

Zack and Tony exchanged looks. "Didn't we tell you?" said Tony.

"I'm sure we mentioned it." Said Zack.

The look on Dante's face suggested otherwise.

"Well long story short, we built a special gun that neutralises a Devils special abilities, leaving it mortal and defenceless." Explained Tony.

"Right, and I had a chance to examine some of that Uroboros bio-tech earlier, and the weapon should make mincemeat out of those little monster munches." Zack added, folding his arms.

Dante stared at them and threw his arms out wide. "Well? What the hell are ya waiting for? Get me the gun and I'll shoot him with it myself!"

Zack and Tony exchanged another, more uncomfortable look, followed by much shuffling of feet and such.

"Umm, well …" Tony scratched the back of his neck and stared at the ground.

Dante glared at Zack, who started making complex gestures in the air. "Thing is," he said, "that … could be … sorta … like … a problem?"

"Why?" said Dante with forced patience and an alarming edge to his voice.

"Be-cause … it's like … umm …" Zack mumbled. Faster than they could see, Dante reached out and grabbed a handful of his spiky hair and yanked his head down, causing him to yelp loudly. "Lady has it!" he shouted.

Dante released him and Zack rubbed the back of his head. Tony moved to block Dante, who had immediately turned and headed towards the med-lab doors. As Dante stopped he glared at him and then glanced past at the guards stationed by the doors, who were suddenly alert and paying attention.

"You can't go Dante," said Tony, holding his good hand up against Dante's chest to stop him. "The Director and Assistant-Director gave explicit instructions that neither you nor your brother were to leave the building."

"Is that right?" said Dante, keeping his voice as level as possible. The guards fingered their SMG's nervously and one of them clicked his radio twice, indicating to the rest of the building security teams to stand by.

"They wont let you leave and I cant either," Tony continued. "Please, just stay put here and let me call Lady – I'll tell her what's going on and get her back here right away."

Dante said nothing. He stood there silently for a few minutes and then glanced over his shoulder at Zack and the medical staff. He said; "Take good care of my brother."

Tony swallowed and shook his head. "Dante, don't."

Dante turned back to him and grinned. "Sorry about this." He said, and head butted Tony, knocking him to the floor. The two guards by the door had been expecting this, and both raised their SMG's, aiming them at Dante.

Dante waved his hand at them, releasing a rippling distortion that swept outward and enveloped the room. Everyone slowed down to a snails pace whilst Dante calmly stepped over Tony's prone form and pushed past the guards, who moved too slowly to even see him pass.

A few minutes later, Dante had left the building.

* * *

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Lady stopped mid-way in the attempt at climbing out of the bathroom window. She glanced back at the blond vampire, who stood with her arms crossed underneath the folds of her incredibly camp black cloak.

"Oh? Well if you have a better idea for getting out of here before we burn to death I'm all ears." She said, turning back to the window and gripping the frame in preparation to haul herself through the narrow gap.

Behind her, Persephone sighed. "I just meant that low-life bounty hunter is probably out there with a gun trained on this very window waiting to pop a bullet into the first head to stick out of it. But what do I know? I've only spent the last few centuries avoiding guys like that …"

Lady froze. Very carefully she lowered herself down from the window and turned around to face the vampire whilst trying not to blush too much. She should have figured that out herself.

"All right then what do _you_ propose to do?"

Persephone grinned, showing off her fangs again. "Watch and learn." She spun and strode up to the bathroom door. A moment later her entire body dissolved into a pearly white mist, which sank to the floor and disappeared underneath the gap.

"Huh." Said Lady. She walked up to the door and cautiously placed her ear against it. The wooden frame was warm to the touch. She could hear the crack of spluttering flames. Closing her eyes she focused on the sounds and a moment later heard a loud hissing, whooshing sound that went on for several moments. It stopped as suddenly as it began and there was only silence, broken by a loud crash as whatever obstruction blocking the bathroom door was torn aside. Frowning, Lady turned the door handle and pushed it open, stepping quickly through.

The room was quite a mess. From the look of things Victor had somehow retrieved his weapons and had tossed an incendiary grenade onto the bed before leaving, as that appeared to have been the source of the fire. The flames themselves had all been snuffed out, leaving large patches of blackened soot. Standing proudly over the splintered wreckage of what was formerly the wardrobe, was Persephone.

"You may applaud now." she said, tossing the bright red fire extinguisher aside and giving a low sweeping theatrical bow.

Lady glanced about the room. "Yeah, whatever. We've still got that fat Houdini out there waiting to blow our heads off at the first opportunity."

Persephone gave her a wry look. "Oh, how charming; I save you from a painful death and you don't even thank me! How about a kiss?" she stepped towards Lady, clasping her gloved hands together and raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Lady stared at her and grimaced. "Bite me. Oh no, wait – you actually might."

She strode over to the balcony that overlooked the back of the motel, opposite the bathroom window where Persephone predicted Victor to be in waiting. Sliding the glass doors open she glanced back at the vampire, who was sulking.

"Are you coming or not?"

Persephone looked thoughtful. "I suppose so, since we're probably both here to find the same thing."

"Which is?"

"The secret shelter Uroboros has set up underneath this town. Don't tell me you didn't know?"

She hadn't, actually. Solstice had told her there were secrets here, but had neglected to say what they were. Lady decided not to show her ignorance and nodded instead. "Right. Don't suppose you know where the entrance to it is?"

"Possibly." The vamp replied, looking cagey. "What's in it for me if I help?"

Lady stuck her head out over the balcony and spotted a set of fire ladders leading down to a dusty back alley behind the motel. She pulled back into the room and glanced at Persephone with a shrug. "I'm just here to put a stop to their evil plans for world domination. What are you here for?"

Persephone looked gloomy. "Oh. One of the good guys." She yawned and stretched. "Well I suppose I _could_ help out. From what I hear those sleazy snakes are growing a whole army of juicy hybrids down there that would make for a fine feast."

"What did you say?" demanded Lady, looking alarmed.

"Hmm? What? Oh, just that they are making an army of clone super soldiers. Probably to take over the world or something equally evil overlordish. Word has it they've been cloning the son of Sparda himself." The look on her face as she said this reminded Lady of the expression Dante often wore when someone set a huge pizza or strawberry sundae down in font of him. She even licked her lips. "If that's true then I can't wait to sink my teeth into them – hey! What are you doing?"

Lady grabbed Persephone's arm and yanked her towards the balcony. "C'mon!" she snapped, letting go and spinning around so she could slide down the fire escape. Sand crunched beneath her boots as she set down on the ground, the heat it had absorbed during hours of baking sunlight slowly being released in the cool night air.

As Lady let go of the metal rungs, the barrel of a large bore gun was pressed against the back of her neck.

"Hello bitch." Said Victor.


	29. Chapter 29

Sorry for the delay. To make up for it here is an extra long chapter. Could be the longest I've ever done, not sure. Big action sequence involving Dante anyway. Oh Sylla, I think you better give up trying to teach me correct dialog tags, I'm hopeless at them. So long as my writing isn't too difficult to read it should be ok for FFnet. Aaand ... on with the chapter.

* * *

**DMC: Full Circle**

_Part XXIX_

"I believe the polite term is 'Lady'." Said Lady.

"The correct term is actually 'dead'," Retorted Victor. "Only reason you're still breathing is so you can tell me where the vampire is."

"Behind you." She said automatically.

The barrel of the gun was shoved painfully into the back of her neck. Shotgun, Lady realised, definitely. 12 gauge, probably buckshot, which would really mess up her hair if he fired it that close to her.

"Try again." He warned.

Lady peered up at the balcony she had just descended from. There was no sign of Persephone. She lowered her gaze and resumed staring directly ahead. "Definitely behind you." She said.

There was a low, continuous growl and it took Lady a moment to realise the sound wasn't coming from Victor. She risked a glance over her shoulder and saw Victor's face locked in a frozen grimace. Behind him, sitting on its haunches on the warm sand, was a wolf. It was a splendid bitch, with sleek shiny silver fur and a long blond patch running from the top of it's head down to as far as Lady could see of its back. Its eyes glowed red giving it the appearance of an eerie hellhound.

Slowly, Victor Thornton turned his own head and looked back at the wolf, which wrinkled its muzzle in a snarl that showed off rows of gleaming canine teeth dripping with saliva. Lady spun and wrenched the shotgun from Victor's hands. He was so distracted by the wolf he offered little resistance, and Lady was able to spin the weapon around into her own grasp and jam it into the back of _his_ neck.

"What was it you called me again?" Lady wondered aloud, her left hand gripping the wooden slide of the pump-action. She glanced past him at the wolf, which was still snarling at the bounty hunter. "What do you think? Should I shoot him?"

The wolf barked.

"Hmm, I think she wants you for herself."

"Do it. Pull the trigger. I'm not gonna be food for no damn vampire." Victor muttered.

"Well since vampires are nocturnal and she only just got up, I think she wants breakfast. A big boy like you ought to fill her up till lunchtime."

"For Christ sake, show some mercy! It'll tear me to shreds!" Victor yelled, an edge of fear in his voice. Lady's eyes narrowed.

"Sorry. I'm fresh out of mercy for today."

She shoved the hunter over, knocking him onto his backside. The wolf immediately sprang forwards, yapping loudly. Victor scrambled up to his feet, kicking up clouds of dust and sand as he struggled to fight off the snarling, snapping beast. He succeeded in getting up and making a dash for it, vanishing down a dark alleyway. Persephone was playing with him, for she could have easily torn his throat out when he was on the ground. She paused momentarily to glance at Lady with those spooky red eyes before loping off in pursuit of the fleeing figure.

As Lady stood there still clutching the shotgun, she heard the distant boom of gunshots from a pistol. These stopped abruptly, replaced by the sound of shouting and screaming, with a lot of animal snarling and growling mixed in. She listened to the sounds of struggle with wide eyes for a good few minutes before the disturbing noises died down. A few moments later Persephone - now in human form again – appeared from out of the alley. She spat furiously at the ground, again and again, then repeatedly began wiping her mouth on her sleeves.

"What's wrong with you?"

Persephone looked at her, livid. "Garlic!" she spat, "Damn and blast it, the pig stuffs his face with garlic!" She screamed and pawed at her mouth, as if she had just downed a barrel of red-hot chillies or spices. Trying not to laugh too hard, Lady removed a flask of water from her belt and tossed it to the stricken vampire, who snatched it out of the air gratefully. Several long gulps later she strode up to Lady and returned the flask, fuming as she did so.

"Is he …?"

"He'll live. Mores the pity." Persephone bit her lip with her fangs. "He's probably crawled into a hole somewhere to lick his wounds. Rather him than me." She snarled. "Garlic. Yuck."

"Yuck?"

Persephone nodded emphatically. "Yuck. Incidentally, I've known you all of five minutes and I've already saved your life twice. You _really_ owe me."

Lady waved her hand absent mindedly, realised she was in fact waving a shotgun and tossed it away. "This time doesn't count, I had the situation totally under control."

Persephone's eyebrows arched disbelievingly. "Oh, for sure. Well you can at least tell me your name."

"Lady."

"No, really."

"Really. Now if you don't mind I'd quite like to find the entrance to the secret Uroboros shelter before the sun rises and you burst into flames."

Persephone took a step closer and spoke with a soft purr; "Why Lady, I didn't think you cared so."

"I don't. It's just difficult to get directions out of a pile of ash. Shall we?"

* * *

The chilly night air whipped at Dante's red jacket and rippled his silvery-white hair. It blew sand in his face and grit from the road rattled against his bike as it sped along the deserted highway.

His bike, though really he had bought it as a gift for Lady and had meant to give it to her the next time he visited. It was called the _Bifrost_ and had been custom built for exactly the kind of work he and Lady got involved in. Turbo charged engine, reinforced armour chassis, foam-filled bulletproof tires and more besides. Dante loved the sound of the engine as it roared beneath its glossy blue skin. It was one of those gifts you felt like clinging onto even as you handed it over.

Right now he was using its souped up engine to retrace the route Lady had taken hours before, down a lonely Nevada road towards the dusty backwater town of Highgate. He had to catch up with her at all costs. His brother's life literally counted on it. Vergil … last time Dante had spoken to him had been atop Avernus fortress after the two twins had butted heads to find out who was the better. Afterwards Dante had let Vergil go with their father's sword and all the power contained within, so that he could go forth and tame the Underworld.

It had been working as well, Dante and Lady had heard nothing of devils for over six months afterwards, then this whole Uroboros situation had started. Dante had to wonder what this Mephistopheles gained by removing Vergil from his throne in Hell. The power vacuum would create chaos, until someone stepped up to take control … perhaps that was his game. Maybe he wanted the devils fighting each other for power so he could swoop in with his army of clones and seize power for himself.

Dante was pulled out of his wondering thoughts when his acute hearing picked up the revs of an engine – no, three engines – coming from behind him. He glanced at his wing mirrors, his eyes glowing red as they amplified the starlight from the clear night sky. Bikes. Three of them. Closing fast. It could be some random bikers, but Dante doubted it – his instincts said otherwise. He gunned the engine, giving the _Bifrost_ a brief burst of speed, then slammed on the breaks and swerved, coming to an abrupt stop. _Ivory_ was out of it's holster, the gleaming white pistol blazing with flaming snapshots as Dante opened up on the three approaching riders.

They soon slowed down, and as Dante's supernatural vision zoomed in to show him their faces he was so stunned by what he saw that he momentarily stopped firing. Only years of growing up with his little brother Verge allowed him to tell the first two apart, for they looked nearly identical – clones of Vergil and Dante himself. Decked out in black and with slightly different hairstyles, they flanked the third individual. Sparda. A clone, it had to be, Dante recognised the face as his fathers human form. He had seen it last year atop Avernus, for Mundus had possessed and reanimated Sparda's corpse. The features were unmistakable.

Dante received a rude awakening when the Dante and Sparda clones opened fire on him, bullets whistling dangerously close to his face. Dante fired a few more shots, holstered _Ivory_ and charged the _Bifrost_ back into action, sending it tearing down the desert highway. As he glanced into his rear-views again he saw that the trio were in close pursuit.

_Damn!_ This was bad. Very bad. Dante was no stranger to devil-clones. Lucia and Trish had taught him they were not to be taken lightly. And clones of pretty much his whole family? Shit. That _was_ bad.

They must be sporting modified bikes of their own, because they were catching up to him. Dante was forced to duck low as more gunfire ripped through the air about him. They were good shots, but firing handguns at high speed on bikes, especially when your target was keen to avoid being shot …

Taking a brief glance at his right rear-view, Dante released the throttle and touched the breaks lightly, causing the _Bifrost_ to slow. The trio behind him came up fast and Dante had the Rebellion off his back and swinging to his right at head height, aiming to decapitate the clone of his self as it shot past.

It wouldn't be that easy however. The Dante clone ducked at the last second, the blade of the Rebellion slicing through empty air. Dante himself was forced to bring his sword across in order to deflect a sword slice aimed at his side from the Vergil clone. The Sparda clone had anticipated his break move and had slowed in advance, and thus remained behind Dante. He opened fire with his handgun, forcing Dante to jink his bike from left to right to avoid taking hits.

In a flash all three were on him; bullets and blades raining down from every angle as the trio converged on the _Bifrost_. Dante let go of the bike with his other hand and pulled the Vendetta sword from a sheath on the side of his bike. He used the thick flat blade of the weapon to deflect the point-blank gunfire from the Dante and Sparda clones whilst simultaneously parrying sword slashes from Vergil with the Rebellion.

They were keeping him on the defensive, trying to find a gap they could get an attack through. Using his weight and legs to swing the bike around, Dante pivoted the _Bifrost_ about, succeeding in bringing it around the Sparda clone, slashing both of his swords through the air to prevent an attack as Sparda swerved to avoid.

Now he was behind all three of them. He quickly sheathed his swords, gripped the bike handles and tapped the nitro control on his bike. The _Bifrost_ gained a massive boost in speed, surging forward like a lightning bolt. He shot past the trio before they could react and rapidly gained ground on them. Ten seconds later they were eating his dust, dwindling specks in his wing mirrors.

Risking a glance behind him, Dante let out a sigh of relief. It was short lived however, as his hearing warned him of an approaching helicopter. Sure enough a Comanche attack chopper was speeding towards him from across the vast stretch of Nevada desert to the left of the road he was driving on. Dante squinted at it, his demonic vision again zooming in, this time on a pair of small specks either side of the chopper. They were men, decked out in full body armour, probably high-impact plastic Kevlar, and sporting jetpacks and FNP90's.

"Great," Dante muttered "Just great." One would think Uroboros would be thanking him for whacking their moronic boss Arius. Evidently they took that kind of thing personally, and old Mephisto wanted him just as dead as Lady.

Turbo bikes may be fast, but aircraft and jetpacks were faster still. Soon Dante was taking heavy fire, bullets tearing up the tarmac around him and bouncing off the _Bifrost's_ armour. The heavier rattle of 20mm canon fire from the Comanche gouged chunks out of the road ahead of him as the pilot attempted to lead his target. Dante swerved and jinked to evade the shells, but he was only buying time.

Reaching around, he whipped out his double barrel sawn off and fired it at the nearest jetpack soldier. The buckshot bounced uselessly off his armour, barely stunning the man himself. As Dante adjusted his aim and prepared to fire again, the shotgun was blown from his hand and tumbled onto the road as it took a bullet. Gritting his teeth and shooting a glance behind him, he saw that the trio of clones had caught up and were firing again.

There was a bright flash, followed a moment later by an almighty explosion that nearly hurled Dante from his seat. He fought for control and just barely managed to steer around a crater that had been blasted in the road by the helicopters rocket pods. Bullets lashed down around Dante like torrential rainfall and it was all he could do to minimise the number that hit. He took a round in the leg and another bullet grazed the back of his skull. The wounds healed instantly but he didn't know how long he could keep this up.

Dust and grit was kicked up around him from the wake of the Comanche as it veered overhead, passing in front of him. The pilot was very good, Dante realised, as he managed to turn the attack chopper around 180 in order to point the nose towards him whilst still remaining ahead of him, no easy feat. Now he was dead in the sights of some seriously heavy firepower, which wasted no time in letting loose its ordinance.

Dante jerked the _Bifrost_ sharply to the left and the volley rockets shot past, blasting apart the road behind him and forcing the trio of clones to swerve off it altogether to avoid the explosions. Dante glanced back at them, then looked forwards to the helicopter, which was having to tilt backwards in order to keep ahead of him. This gave him a moments respite as it's weapons were pointed up in the air.

Gunfire hammered the side of the _Bifrost_ and shattered the left wing mirror. Dante jerked the bike and looked around to see one of the jetpack goons swooping low, a bright green star from his P90's laser sight zeroing in on him.

"Ok, that is the last straw."

He flipped the cruise control on, climbed up onto the bike seat and pounced – a surge of demonic strength propelling him through the air and into his attacker. As they crashed together the added weight caused the jetpack to slip lower, so low in fact that the flying soldiers feet started to trail across the desert sands.

"Hey – what are you doing? Get off!" the man protested, trying to shake Dante off. Paying him no mind Dante wrenched the P90 SMG from his grasp and rammed the stock of the weapon into the side of his helmet. Several more bashes and his head hung limp as he slipped into unconsciousness.

More bullets whistled perilously close and Dante saw the second jetpacker zipping towards them, gun blazing. Dante twisted his own stolen P90 around into his grasp and opened fire, sending a stream of bullets directed at the attacker. They bounced off his armour as before, but a few shots found their mark and shattered the man's weapon, blasting the broken fragments out of his hands.

Tossing the spent P90 away, Dante now reached over and grabbed the jetpack control stick. Before he could steer the rig anywhere however, a gloved hand grabbed his own and pulled it away. Dante looked around and the Uroboros soldier had regained conscious. He rammed his helmet into Dante's nose and punched him in the side of the head for good measure. Dante fell backwards and almost lost his hold. The soldier leaned forward and thrust both hands around Dante's neck in an effort to throttle him. Dante didn't need to breath so this was no trouble, but because their combined weight had them no more than a few feet off the ground - which was speeding along at an alarming rate - Dante had to fight to avoid having his skull bounce off the rocky desert terrain.

From his precarious position the devil hunter could see the road at an upside down angle. To his dismay the Comanche chopper was wheeling about and would soon have him in its sights. On top of that the clones had caught up to them all; the Dante clone was closing fast on the _Bifrost_, and would soon be able to reach out and grab it.

"Ah, crap." Said the real Dante. A second later his head hit a large sharp rock as the jetpack soldier he clung to continued to speed alongside the highway.

Shaking his head to clear the stars from it, Dante lashed out with his foot and kicked at the man trying to strangle him. His boot connected with a valve or something on the jetpack, which hissed and flared, the jet exhausts turning to thin blue flames. The sudden acceleration wrenched the pair of them and the soldier lost his grip on Dante's throat.

Everything was a confused blur of speed. The two combatants shot up into the air like a bullet as the pack began consuming fuel at an alarming rate. Fighting g-forces now, Dante was able to get his hand around the control stick. Squinting out ahead as air slapped him in the face, he guided the speeding jetpack towards the second flyer and crossed the intervening space in less than a second. All the man could do was fling up his hands and cry out before his stunned comrade, with Dante in tow, crashed into him.

They became a jumble of metal and limbs hurtling through the air. Struggling to concentrate through the chaos Dante now steered them all towards the Comanche chopper. He saw the pilot and co-pilot through the glass cockpit point at them in alarm. The co-pilot hit one of the controls and the gunships 20mm canon opened fire on them. A shell struck one of the armoured soldiers in the torso and sent all three of them tumbling and spinning.

Screaming, dizzy and sick - with exhaust jets firing in opposing directions - the jumble of men, machine and devil crashed into the front of the Comanche, bounced off the cockpit and up into the spinning rotor blades. The instant before the Whumming steel sawed through the first jetpack, Dante executed a Trick-Down move, teleporting himself straight out of the whole mess and down into the seat of the _Bifrost _below.

The Dante clone that had just wrapped his hand around the _Bifrost's_ handlebar stopped and looked up in shock as a tremendous explosion erupted overhead. He received a rude awakening when the real Dante appeared out of thin air on the bike, drew the Rebellion and hacked his arm off at the elbow. The clone cried out in disbelief whilst Dante hit the nitro control on his bike and shot forward once again.

The Dante clone stopped his bike and stared in horror at his severed arm. The Vergil and Sparda clones attempted to pursue Dante himself but ran into difficulty when the flaming wreckage of the Comanche chopper came crashing down into the middle of the road with an almighty noise, blocking them.

"My arm! The bastard took my arm!"

Vergil turned his bike around and went to help his clone brother, whilst Sparda stopped and glared at the burning chopper wreck, his narrowed eyes reflecting the dancing flames that licked the night air.

On the other side of the wreck the distant figure of the _Bifrost_ vanished over the horizon.


	30. Chapter 30

Sorry for the delay, here is the next chapter. Obviously. It's very long, because I sorta got carried away towards the end, for rather obvious reasons. No Dante this chapter I'm afraid, though fear not he will be a regular character now despite what I said at the start of this fic (which was a long time ago come to think of it).

**PLEASE NOTE:** although I reclassified this fic as a T rated story, this particular chapter should be considered M rated at least, as it contains very explicit sexual scenes. Yup, you read that right, hot steamy sex scene included below, of a very Yuri (femslash) nature. You have been warned. This certainly wasn't planned, but then little I write is. I blame my muse, I think it wrote this when my back was turned. Quite fitting mind you, considering the Roman numeral designation for it. If you don't want to read it you can always gloss over those bits. They're easy to spot. I'm blabbering aren't I? I think I'm just nervous because I've never written something this graphic before, and it probably reads stupidly because it's certainly not something I know about. So I'll just … umm, shut up now. Yeah.

**

* * *

****DMC: Full Circle**

_Part XXX_

"No."

"You could at least consider-"

"I said no already! I do _not_ want to become a vampire!"

Persephone refused to quit. As the sand crunched under Lady's boots, the blond vampire hovered a few feet above the ground, floating beside Lady like a badly dressed spectre.

"You should really think about it you know, it'd be a huge benefit in your line of work."

Lady stopped and rounded on Persephone, who was outlined in the pale moonlight that bathed the silent town of Highgate. "Look," she said with forced patience "what part of the word 'No' do you not understand?"

Persephone floated to a stop beside her and considered this. "The first two letters."

Lady huffed and stormed off, pushing a rusty iron gate open and striding purposefully towards the main road that connected this ghost town with the rest of the world.

"Where are we going anyway?" asked the vampire, gliding swiftly through the air to catch up with the retreating devil hunter.

"I'm going to get some weapons from my car." Said Lady. As she neared the gas station where she had parked earlier however, there was a definite sound of activity ahead. More like a ruckus actually – it sounded like a band of very noisy steel drummers on concert.

Drawing _Luce_ from its holster, Lady advanced cautiously, glancing this way and that for any signs of ambush. Pressing her back up against the dusty wall of the station, she slid towards the corner, waited a beat and then leapt out with the .45 pistol trained firmly in the direction of the noises.

"Oh great." She muttered.

Her car was totally totalled. A pack of Blade demons had completely ransacked it; peeled the roof off, slashed the tires, caved in the chassis and eviscerated the engine. They stopped in the process of jumping up and down on the vehicles corpse and turned to stare at the two newcomers, moonlight reflecting off the sharp ridges of their armour and glinting off their scaled hides.

"You're going to pay for that." Said Lady, aiming her handgun at the closest of the devils. Persephone floated down beside her and placed a hand on the barrel of _Luce_, forcing it down.

"Leave it to me." She said with a smile. Lady thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. She watched as the vampire lady stepped boldly forwards and gripped the edges of her cloak, then spread her arms out wide.

"Children of the night! PISS OFF!"

The Blade devils stared at her for a long moment, as if contemplating something puzzling. Then, and to Lady's frank astonishment, they turned and fled.

"So," said a smug Persephone, "are you impressed?"

Lady holstered _Luce_ and stepped up beside her, watching the Blade's scamper down the road and vanish into the night. "No." she said. "Not in the least."

As Persephone's shoulders sagged, Lady started riffling through the wreckage of her car. She pulled a battered metal case from the trunk and laid it down on the ground. Luckily the toughened metal had survived the onslaught intact. She flipped it open and pulled out the Yamato from the foam interior.

"Nice sword. Where did you get it?"

"A gift from the King of Hell." Said Lady, hanging the weapon across her back and tying the black cords around the front of her jacket. She slammed the case shut and stood upright. "Alright then, time for you to do your part."

Persephone stared at her. "Oh really? And what have I been doing up until now then?"

Lady appeared in front of the vampire and leaned in close to her so that their noses touched lightly. In a soft voice she said; "Why, I thought you had been charming me …"

Thrown by her sudden change in attitude, Persephone's eyes widened. "I … well of course …"

"Mmm. So where is the entrance then?"

"I don't know, exactly."

Lady pulled back and glared. "What?"

"Look, I hacked into an Uroboros network, that's why they put that bounty on my head-"

"You _hacked_ into their computers? _You_?"

Now it was Persephone who glared. "I can tell from your voice that you find it hard to believe someone like me would know my way around an operating system. Well just because I'm over two thousand years old doesn't mean I can't tell my iPods from my MP3's."

Lady held her hands up. "Ok, ok. So what did you find that had them after you so bad?"

Persephone crossed her arms. "Not much. Some information about an army of clone soldiers and a time portal-"

"Time portal? Are you sure?"

"Yes. It was all a bit vague. It said the place was here, in Highgate, but as to where the entrance was all it gave in the way of directions was some cryptic riddle."

Something at the far back of Lady's mind started nagging at her, like a familiar face or name she couldn't quite recall. "A riddle? What was it?"

Persephone's eyes rolled around and she tapped her chin with her finger in recollection. "Hmm. 'Rex marks the spot.' I think it said. Yes, that was it."

"Rex marks the spot …" Lady repeated distantly.

"Not very useful, granted."

What was it her future self had said? _Rex means King …_ Lady pivoted on the spot and stared over the roof of the gas station, up at the dark silhouette of the water tower. She couldn't see it clearly in the gloom, but she remembered getting a good look at it earlier when she had stared at it whilst standing on a landmine.

"Persephone …"

"Hmm? What?"

Lady pointed up at the water tower. "Can you see what's on the face of that? It should be an advert."

Persephone peered up at the tower and her eyes glowed a deeper shade of red. "You're right, it's an advert for beer or some such. Says … 'Kings Kross'."

Ha! Kings Kross. Rex marks the spot. Geez, how obvious …

Five minutes later they were standing at the foot of the water tower. Before Lady could climb the ladder leading up to the wooden parapet around the bottom, the vampire did her Superman thing and flew straight to the top.

"You know, no one likes a show off!" Lady shouted after her. A second later something fell from the tower and hit her in the face. At first she thought it was Persephone's cloak. She tore it off her head and realised it was Victor's ghillie net, his camouflage covering. She grimaced and tossed it away.

Several minutes passed in silence. Lady began tapping her foot impatiently and had to resist the urge to keep craning her neck up at the top of the tower, which was too shrouded in shadows for her to see properly. For a crazy instant she found herself thinking about Persephone's offer to make her a vampire. Being an immortal with supernatural powers would certainly make her job a lot easier. At least it would put her on the same level as Dante … ha! Like she needed vampirism to do that.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around and pressed the Yamato against the tappers neck, the Chrono Heart in the blade turning the motion into a barely perceptible flicker.

"Touchy are we?" said Persephone, pushing the edge of the sword away. "I found something on the roof of the tower."

"What?" snapped Lady, annoyed at how easy the woman had snuck up on her. She sheathed the Yamato.

"A sundial."

"Sundial?"

"That's what I said. And it had seven indentations in it, like something was meant to slot into it. A key to opening the entrance for sure."

Well well, thought Lady. Another score for her future self. She reached around and rifled around in her belt pouch – the one she had given herself – and withdrew seven coloured tiles; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. _You have to put the rainbow in sequence to open the entrance._

"Here, take these and place them in the sundial. That should do it, I think."

Persephone took the tiles and stared at them, then at Lady. "Where did you get these? Never mind." She vanished into the shadows. Lady blinked, then took several steps back from the water tower.

"There! Did that do it?" a voice shouted.

Lady glanced about. Nothing had changed. Maybe Persephone had placed them in the wrong order? Could her vampire eyes distinguish between colours in the dark?

She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted; "I think-" but was interrupted by a loud grinding noise. She stopped and looked down at the ground beneath the tower. The sand was vanishing like water down a plughole, sucked down by some kind of whirpool. Soon there was a five by five foot dark square hole leading into darkness. Lady walked up to the edge and peered down.

"What is it?" said Persephone. Lady jumped and looked at the woman, who was standing right beside her.

"Stop that!" Lady snapped.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You know perfectly well what. You're not impressing anyone."

"No?" Persephone gave her one of her Cheshire cat grins, "I can think of a few ways I _could_ impress you …"

"Later." Lady said, taking the tiles from the smiling woman and stowing them back in her belt pouch. From the dark hole they both heard a mechanical whine, which grew in volume until a metal platform rose into view.

"A lift." Observed Persephone. Lady glanced at her.

"Amazing powers of observation. Is that another fantastic vampire trait, or did you have it before you turned?"

Persephone gave a dry laugh and shoved Lady onto the lift. She swiftly stepped after her and hit the button on the handrail, sending them down into the darkness.

Several minutes passed in silence. Nothing stirred in Highgate, not even the night crickets. Then a dark shadow limped towards the base of the water tower, grunting in pain with each unsteady step.

Victor Thornton stared down the hole at the dwindling lift and it's two occupants. He pulled back and, wincing from the numerous bites and other injuries he had sustained, lifted a radio to his bruised lips.

"They found it. They're on their way down now."

He released the broadcast switch and listened to the buzz of static. A moment later a male voice answered;

_"Try and slow them down, reinforcements are on their way now."_

Click. "With pleasure." Victor leered. He tossed the radio aside and slowly pulled a grenade from his torn and ragged combat vest. He yanked the pin, stepped over the lift shaft, held it over and released it, letting the dark bulbous object drop under the pull of gravity.

"Sayonara bitches."

* * *

Lady tapped her foot. Around her, the smooth concrete walls of the lift shaft rolled past as it descended into the unknown. What would be waiting for them at the bottom? She doubted this was the main way into Uroboros' secret shelter, this must be some kind of emergency exit or back way in. With luck that would mean little or no security. She glanced across at Persephone and frowned. "Hey," she said, "Stop staring at my neck!"

Persephone closed her eyes and shrugged. "I can't help my nature, and in all fairness you have a very appealing neckline." She opened her eyes, which glowed a faint shade of red, and ran her tongue across her teeth in a disconcerting way.

Lady took a small step away from her (not easy in such a small space) and turned the collar of her jacket up, causing Persephone to laugh.

"Relax Lady, if I was going to bite you I would have done it already."

"Yes, well the person who sent me here warned me to watch my neck around you."

Persephone gave her a curious look. "Really? Who sent you and how the devil did they know _I_ would be here? Someone I know?"

Before she could answer the lift jarred to a stop. They both turned and found themselves looking down a dingy concrete tunnel lit by harsh white fluorescents. Lady turned back to Persephone.

"You do now. She said to say 'Hi' by the way-" Lady stopped as the vampire raised an index finger to silence her. Frowning, Persephone looked straight up the lift shaft, her eyes glowing fiercely as she squinted at something.

Lady looked up herself but all she could see was a tiny square patch of night sky that led back to the surface. She looked back down at Persephone to ask her what it was and was shocked to see the blond woman leap at her. Lady's first thought was that she was being attacked, and her hands came up defensively, but the vampire moved faster than Dante. She tackled Lady around the waist and Lady felt her feet leave the metal floor of the lift.

Suddenly everything was chaos; noise, deafening sound, a blur of motion, a hot blast of air that washed over her exposed skin and a concussive wall that sent the pair tumbling down the tunnel. When they finally came to a halt, Lady's ears were ringing and her head spun like it had been struck by a baseball bat.

How long she lay like that she didn't know. Her sense of time vanished in a fuzzy haze of white lights that danced in front of her eyes. When she finally regained her senses her body started giving her information; She was lying on her back, which ached profusely, and Persephone was on top of her with her cloak covering the two of them like a blanket. And that was not all.

Lady coughed. "Persephone?"

"… yes?"

"You can get off me now."

"Sorry, my ears are still ringing, I didn't quite catch that …"

Ha! Thought Lady. Aloud she said; "Ok, but as soon as you get your hearing back kindly take your hands off my breasts."

"Just checking you for injuries. You humans are very fragile creatures after all."

_Hearing's fine huh?_ "I'm unharmed, thanks to you. What just happened?"

The cloak was pulled away and she winced at the light from the fluorescents further down the tunnel. Persephone's face swam into focus in front of her, but the vampire didn't get up. Golden strands of her hair tickled Lady's cheeks and she became acutely aware of their two bodies pressed together.

"Someone threw a grenade down after us." Persephone explained. "High explosive. My guess would be that garlic eating pig I left alive back up there. My mistake. Incidentally, I've just saved your life again haven't I?"

"Yes." Said Lady. For some reason her heart started beating faster, a fact that someone with vampiric senses would no doubt be aware of.

"This is getting to be a habit." Persephone spoke in a soft voice, her eyes which no longer glowed staring directly into Lady's own mismatching pair. She was so close that Lady could count her individual eyelashes.

"A good habit as far as I am concerned." Lady replied, her voice barely a whisper. Her heart beat faster still. Gods, she thought, why was her heart racing so fast? She felt Persephone's body move slightly on top of her and a sensation she couldn't describe churned in the pit of her stomach.

Before she knew what was happening the vampire was kissing her with lips red as her eyes. Lady's heart thudded painfully in her chest and she found herself kissing back, felt Persephone's tongue tickling her own. Some part of her had known this was coming and it felt much better than she had expected. For a long moment she forgot all about her aches and pains.

Then Persephone pulled back and regarded Lady with an expression she hadn't seen the vampire use before. Fireworks were going off inside of her, mirroring the burning debris and sparks from the wrecked lift shaft behind them. Before she had scarcely drawn breath her body took over; she wrapped her legs around Persephone's waist, placed one hand on her chest and another around the back of the woman's head, which she used to pull her down. This time Lady was the one to initiate the kiss, her tongue licking the tips of Persephone's fangs in a way that set her toes tingling.

Her eyes were screwed shut and she gave all thought over to the feeling of the woman above her; the feel of her legs against Lady's bare thighs, their abdomens and breasts pressing and brushing together, her free hand touching the fabric from the back of Persephone's gothic coat whilst one of Persephone's own gloved hands slipped inside Lady's jacket and caressed the skin of her shoulder.

Next thing she knew her jacket and T-shirt were off, thrown aside with the Yamato and her gun belts. Persephone had taken her gloves off and now the soft skin of her hands and the hard tips of her nails dug into Lady's exposed breasts. Lady groaned aloud as the vampire began kissing her neck. Part of Lady's mind warned her that she could easily sink her teeth in with ease, could suck the very blood from her jugular. A bigger part of her no longer cared. Was this how some of her victims felt?

Persephone stopped and pulled back. She brushed her flowing hair away from her face and her gaze swept admiringly across Lady's own flushed face and naked torso. Lady lay underneath her, breathing so quickly she was a step away from panting like a dog.

"Not taking advantage of you am I?" Persephone asked coyly, twisting a lock of her golden hair around with one finger as she continued to drink in the sight before her eyes.

"Do I … look like … I care?" Lady gasped, her chest rising and falling with each breath. Every nerve was either burning or tingling and there was an aching sensation from low down that had nothing to do with her injuries.

"Well I'd hate to think I was forcing myself on you …"

"No you wouldn't," said Lady, sitting up on her elbows "And neither would I. Now what's it going to take for a girl to get a little love bite around here?"

Persephone's lips pulled back and her fangs seemed to extrude even more than usual. She lunged towards Lady and clamped her mouth not on her neck, but on the dark spot of one of her nipples, and proceeded to suck. Lady fell back against the cold hard concrete floor. She ran her fingers through Persephone's silky hair, feeling the shape of her skull underneath, which she gripped tightly as the vampire bit lightly into her flesh, stopping short of breaking the skin.

Her mind no longer registered the sounds coming out of her mouth, which was just as well. Moaning in a way she would be ashamed to think of, Lady pushed down on Persephone's head, and the blond took her meaning. She retracted her fangs slightly and let her tongue fork out between them, allowing Lady to steer the soft wet muscle down her chest and across her stomach, leaving a glistening trail in it's wake.

Her whole body shuddered involuntarily with delight and just a little touch of self-disgust. Someone had just tried to kill her, and she was having sex - not just with another woman but a vampire at that! What was she thinking? Of course that was the problem, she wasn't thinking at all. Her body was pulling her along, her flesh wanted this whether she did or not. As the seconds ticked by though, more and more of _her_ wanted it as well. Was this some kind of vampire mind control? If it was, the small part of Lady's brain that was still operating didn't care one way or the other. What was happening felt good, and the simple fact was that in all her years of hunting evil Lady had never really made the time for this kind of thing.

Persephone's tongue reached Lady's navel and she licked around it several times. Her hands slipped underneath Lady's miniskirt and a moment later the soft fabric of her hotpants and panties slid down her thighs, over her knees and down to the tops of her socks. Lady knew what was coming next, and her eyes went wide with expectation. She let her own hands drop onto her breasts, which she squeezed gently, whilst Persephone's blond head vanished under the hem of her miniskirt. She felt the wetness of Persephone's tongue meet the throbbing wetness between her legs, felt it slide into her skin and set off her nerve endings like a thousand car alarms going off simultaneously.

Lady's back arched as hot waves of sensation trembled up her spine and made her eyes water. Then an instant of shock followed when the tips of the vampire's fangs bit gently into her tender skin. Persephone's lips clamped down and, with her probing tongue still inside of Lady, she sucked at the wetness coming out of her. Lady shook, her right hand slipping under the waistband of her skirt and joining Persephone's lips between her legs. Her fingers prised the opening further apart, letting the vampires tongue sink much deeper, and Lady was forced to bite down on her lower to lip to stop from screaming loudly.

Even though it felt then as if the rest of the world had vanished, such was not the case. The two enraptured ladies were rudely interrupted by the chilling sound of a gun being armed. Many guns in fact. Many _many_ guns.

Persephone withdrew her head from beneath Lady's skirt and stared coldly down the barrels of several dozen G36 assault rifles, a sight she found far less attractive. Lady, feeling very vulnerable as she lay more or less naked and unarmed on the floor, leaned her head back and stared upside down at the intruders.

Dressed in black assault gear and all very heavily armed, it was difficult to tell if they were particularly amused at the scene they had found, seeing as their faces were obscured by gas masks and helmets. As the blood started to rush to her head making her cheeks glow even redder, Lady waved half-heartedly at them.

"Umm," she said, smiling sheepishly, "hi?"


	31. Chapter 31

And now we return to our scheduled programme. In my defence the folks over at devils lair kept talking about Lady's breasts and having the DMC girls wearing nothing but thongs. I was weak. I've been seeing the flagellants in penance though. Oh well, it was just the one chapter ... (_quietly pushes chapter 16 under the carpet_) Back to the action/adventure as advertised. Enjoy.

* * *

**DMC: Full Circle**

_Part XXXI_

The cell door slammed shut with ominous finality. Heavy reinforced steel with electronically locked deadbolts and who knew what other security measures built into it. It was the kind of door that wasn't impressed by a simple 'open sesame'.

Lady stared at it glumly. Well they had at least allowed her to get dressed, but they had her weapons and equipment, including the Bangle of Time and her belt pouch given by her future self. She gave the door a limp kick.

"Well that was embarrassing." Said Persephone.

"You're telling me! What the hell was I thinking? Having sex in the middle of a secret enemy base! With a vampire!" Lady rounded on said vampire, who was floating a few inches above one of the cells hard wooden benches. "This is all your fault." she accused, pointing at her.

Persephone gave her a very unconvincing look of astonishment. "Me? I wasn't the one caught with my pants down."

Lady winced. Gods if Dante ever found out about this she'd never hear the end of it …

"You did some kind of Jedi mind trick on me," Lady waved her hand vaguely, "With the … the hypno eyes and the 'Open ze vindow Mina' vampire thrall thing – admit it!"

Persephone pouted but said nothing. The guilty look she wore said it all though. Lady tossed her hands in the air, spun and gave the cell door another kick.

"In my defence, you did seem to be enjoying yourself."

That's it, thought Lady, I have to get out of here. Now.

"It is of no concern, I can get us out of here any time-"

"No!" Lady spun and held up a warning finger, "I'll do it. _You_ have done enough. Really."

For a moment Persephone looked hurt and Lady felt a twinge of regret. She quashed it however and turned back in a fruitless inspection of the cell door, desperately hoping that something inspirational would spring forth.

Five, then ten and fifteen minutes went past without a word exchanged between the two. Persephone floated cross-legged with her chin in her hands and watched as Lady walked around the small cell, tapping the walls, checking the benches that were the only furnishings, triple checking the door and so on.

As the seconds ticked by Lady grew increasingly frustrated. Recently her human limitations had become more and more apparent – Persephone had been the one to deal with the fire and the bounty hunter. Her supernatural vision had allowed her to read the sign on the water tower and spot the grenade in time to save them. She admitted that she could bust them out of here at any moment while Lady was drawing a complete blank. And of course Lady had given completely into to the vampires thrall and let herself …

It was infuriating. In the past it had never been that big a deal, even back when she had been forced to rest and let Dante go after her father because she was too injured and tired to do it herself. But she was human – just human and nothing more, and now she was beginning to wonder if it was enough. If _she_ was enough to do this. She told Dante earlier that she didn't need his help. Was that true? If it hadn't been for Persephone she would probably have died already.

Lady sighed and leaned the palms of her hands against the sturdy doorframe and hung her head. Whoever was running this base would no doubt be contacting the head office, and it wouldn't take long for the order to come from Webster for the pair of them to be executed at once. Time was running out, or at least it felt that way.

She was just about to give up and swallow her pride when she noticed something that caught her attention. Not on the door, but on her wrist – the blue tattoo like markings arranged in a snowflake like pattern faintly upon her skin. Lady perked up at once and stared at it with wide eyes. Of course! She almost slapped her forehead. How could she have forgotten? Smiling widely, she took a step back and glanced over her shoulder at Persephone, who was watching her curiously.

"Are you ready to get out of here?" she said. She made a complex gesture with her hands and concentrated. A bright blue-white light enveloped her arms and legs, and when it faded Lady bore her Frost gauntlets and greaves, the icy chill of the devil arms crystallizing the air around them and leaving white sparkles in their wake with each movement.

Without hesitating Lady thrust the clawed gloves straight at the door, the absolute-zero blades encountering no more resistance than empty air. She held them in place, causing a crackling pattern of blue ice to spread outwards, encompassing the entire door and part of the surrounding walls. Finally she withdrew the claws and kicked at the frozen door with her Frost greaves, shattering the entire thing into a thousand glittering shards that cascaded across the grey concrete floor of the corridor beyond.

"Impressed?" said Lady, turning and grinning at the stunned looking vampire.

"No," she lied, "Not in the least."

* * *

Ha! Victor would have punched the air if he wasn't still crippled by the mauling that vampire bitch had given him. He'd heard from the Uroboros security teams – they had caught the two freaks and had the pair locked away. They said Daniel Webster himself was coming to personally deal with them. If even half of the mans reputation was true then they were in for excruciating deaths, and that was just fine by him.

"Too bad I can't waste them myself." He muttered, hobbling towards the sand dune where his jeep was concealed, on the outskirts of the town. He stopped where he had parked it and yanked the dusty cover from over the vehicle and began folding it up. When he was done he stowed it in the back of the jeep, climbed into the drivers seat and reached under the rubber foot matt on the floor where the key was hidden.

Where the key should have been hidden.

"Looking for this?" said Dante, dangling the thing in front of his eyes. Victor stared at it for a second before trying to reach for his sidearm. "Ah-ah!" Dante stopped him by shoving the barrel of _Ivory_ into the side of his ear. "You don't want to be making any sudden moves like that. I'm cranky right now and you look like trouble to me, so I won't lose any sleep over putting a round or twenty in that fat lip of yours mister."

Victor cursed his ill luck as Dante tossed the key over the dune. He glanced at his rear-view mirror and his eyes widened as he noticed the face reflected in its surface, perched behind his seat.

"You're Dante!" he said. "The real deal, huh?"

"What d'ya know, I'm famous right?"

"To someone. There's a fifty million dollar bounty out on your head."

Dante snorted and jabbed his pistol painfully into the side of the Merc's head. "Looking to collect? Sorry, but I'm kinda attached to my head. Where it goes I go."

"Whatever." Victor sneered. "The big cheese himself is coming here to collect that whore of yours. If you're still here by the time he arrives then no one will be collecting that reward."

Well well, thought Dante, things start to get interesting. Lady was here, sounded like Uroboros had her and their boss was coming to get her himself. Sweet.

"Well who'd have guessed?" said Dante "Looks like I'm the right guy in the right place at the right time." He'd pick up Lady and nail the big bad wolf at the same time, then be back to help his brother before brunch. "And if he is coming here then all I gotta do is wait for him to show up. Guess that means I'm done with you." He withdrew _Ivory_, pulled it back and smacked Victor across the back of the head with the butt of the weapon. The Merc's head shot forwards and smashed into the steering wheel and he went rigid.

Dante hopped out of the jeep and holstered his handgun. He strode towards Highgate, examining it with interest.

"Jeez, what a freakin dumb."

Which pretty much summed up his view of the place. He sauntered into the town, casually glancing this way and that looking for something to occupy his time while he waited. It didn't take him long to find something when a pair of werewolves tried to ambush him as he walked around the side of the local watering hole.

When he was finished with them he holstered his guns and stepped over their bodies, wondering if the dust-bucket of a town had anything a bit more challenging to offer. Perhaps a game of pool …

He strolled into the bar, which was as empty as the rest of the godforsaken place, and hopped the counter, ignoring the blood stains on dried viscera on the floor that were probably the remains of the owner left over from being eaten by the towns new residents.

There was a refrigerator tucked neatly away and amazingly it still had power. No strawberries or ice cream though. Sighing, Dante hopped back over the counter and pushed his way out through the front door. He returned five minutes later having paid a visit to the local convenience store, his arms now bulging with various bottles and plastic tubs – all the ingredients he would need to whip up a strawberry sundae.

He stopped short and stared. The bar was now full of gun-totting commandos, who all had their weapons trained on him. All save for a man in a long dark grey coat with ash grey hair and a gaunt looking face, who sat on one of the bar stools.

"Mr Dante, so good of you to join us…" Said Mephistopheles.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32. Wow, 32 chapters, I can't believe I've done that many. Well, things are not looking good for Dante this chapter ... will he win? What do you think?

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* * *

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**DMC: Full Circle**

_Part XXXII_

Mark Chillz sighed as the credits rolled for the episode of Heroes he had just watched. He closed the window on the desktop computer and removed the DVD from its drive.

"Oh well," he said to the empty armoury room, "I guess I'll have to wait until part two gets released on disc now." replacing the video disc in it's plastic case and stowing it under his desk. With another sigh he stared at the computer desktop screen in front of him, displaying the Uroboros company logo and motto. What now?

"Hi." Said Lady. Mark jumped and stared at the dark haired woman standing in front of his desk. She smiled sweetly at him, hands clasped behind her back and her head tilted slightly to one side.

"Who are you?" Mark asked automatically. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and frowned. "Wait – hey! Aren't you one of the intruders they just caught breaking in?"

Lady gave him a quizzical look. "Don't be silly, they're locked up aren't they?" she chuckled, "It's not like they could just freeze the door to their cell solid, shatter it and escape, now is it?"

Mark gaped. "No, I suppose not. You must be one of the new bounty hunters then, right?"

Lady brought her hand around and pointed her finger at him like a mock-gun. "Bingo."

"Alright then, in that case if you're here to pick up your gear I'll need the ID card you were issued with when you signed up." He pushed a digital card reader across the desk towards her and tapped it, whilst tapping the icon on his touch-screen to boot up the personnel database programme.

Lady stared at the card reader. "Oh dear. I'm afraid I don't have it. You see, my dog ate it."

Mark blinked. "Dog? What dog?"

From somewhere near his nether regions there came a low animal growl. A chill gripped him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Very cautiously he gazed down, and to his alarm there was an extremely large wolfhound sitting under the desk with it's snout resting on his chair right between his legs, gazing up at him with blood red eyes.

"Oh. That dog. Good dog, _good_ dog …" he made to pet it but yanked his hand back as the growl rose in volume. Suddenly his bladder felt extremely small, yet he suspected it would be an extremely bad move to empty it with the wolf's nose so close to his … his … well a very bad idea.

"Such a pain, I know," Lady placed her hands on the desk and leaned across "it's just that there's something a bit wrong with her you see."

"Ah? Her?"

"Oh yes. She's a lady dog you see, but for some reason she doesn't like male dogs very much. In fact she doesn't like any men at all. Bit of a bitch really…"

The wolf's ears perked up and turned slightly, and Mark felt sure it looked slightly annoyed, though he must be imagining things.

"So if you could just see your way to helping me out then we'll be on our way in no time at all."

"Well…" Mark swallowed. If his superiors found out they'd skin him alive. But the thing was, the crucial thing, was that they weren't currently an inch away from his crotch with a mouth full of very pointy teeth and eyes like a demented devil.

Mark slowly reached up and pulled a black plastic key card from a chain around his neck and handed it to Lady. "This is the master key, it should open any of the lockers. Just … umm, leave it on the table through there when you're done."

Lady took the card from him with a smile. "Much appreciated. Come on Aleera, let's leave this poor man in peace and get to work."

Reluctantly, it seemed, the wolf scampered out from under the desk and padded over to Lady, stopping for a moment to give Mark a look that started the hairs on his neck standing to attention again. He shivered as the two walked towards the wire mesh of the weapon-lock up. Lady stopped however and turned back.

"One more thing – we need to report to the main lab before we go, how do we get there from here?"

Wanting these two gone as quickly as possible, he swiftly called up a map on the computer. "Take the elevator up to floor B2, follow the signs on the wall and you should reach the core shaft. The door to the main lab is marked in blue."

Lady gave him a wave and turned away, the wolf right behind her with its tail wagging back and forth. Mark watched amused as it hopped forward and nipped Lady in the backside. She jumped and rounded on the wolf, giving the animal a scathing look.

"You do that again and _I_ will bite _you_." She warned. This did not appear to have the desired effect, as the wolf's tail wagged even faster.

Shaking his head, Mark pushed away from his desk and headed for the door. With any luck the two freaks would be long gone by the time he got back from the bathroom, they were giving him the willies…

* * *

Dante ignored the men with the guns and coolly set his dessert supplies down upon the bar. A dozen rifle barrels followed his every movement.

"I'd tell your flunkies to put their toys away before they hurt themselves." Said Dante, sliding over the bartop and sorting through his things. From his stool Mephisto gave a tired wave.

"Go check on the prisoners down below, they should have escaped by now."

The soldiers lowered their rifles and filed out of the bar with typical military efficiency, leaving Dante alone with the Uroboros CEO.

"I'd offer to make you drink," said Dante as he started to whip up his Strawberry Sundae, "but seeing as we're mortal enemies and all I'd have to say you can get your own."

"Quite understandable." Said Mephisto. He reached into his jacket and withdrew something, which he then placed on the bartop just as Dante was reaching for a can of cream.

It was a monocle.

Dante's hand hovered over the cream momentarily, before reaching over and picking the monocle up. He examined it closely in silence whilst long forgotten memories fired back and forth through his skull. He had seen this thing before, he knew. Seen it in a painting.

Of his father.

"Yes, this did belong to Sparda." Said Mephisto, reading Dante's stone-faced expression as much as his mind.

"Where?"

"I took it from him."

"When?"

"The day I killed him."

The Rebellion moved fast, going from Dante's back to a vertical slash aimed right for the middle of Mephisto's head in less time than it took to blink. The sword stopped an inch away from contact, the edge of the blade vibrating as Dante struggled against some invisible force holding it in place. Just as suddenly as the attack, the Rebellion was wrenched from Dante's grasp and shot across the bar like a bullet, burying itself in an old pinball machine in the corner of the room, which split in half.

Before it had crossed even half the distance, Dante drew _Ebony_ and fired it into Mephisto's face point blank, the empty shell casing bouncing across the bartop and onto the bloodstained floor. The bullet hovered in front of Mephisto's forehead for a second before it too fell onto the bartop and slid off onto the floor, without ever once touching it's intended target.

Throughout the entire exchange Mephisto neither blinked nor moved. He sat patiently on his barstool and watched Dante passively with dark grey eyes. Dante lowered _Ebony_ and set it down on the counter.

"You're lying." He said.

"Perhaps. Yet, ask yourself this Mr Dante – in all your years of working in this business, have you ever once encountered someone who actually claimed to have killed your father? No, I do not believe you have. Some demons are unsure if he is really dead. I know he is."

"Bull."

"How would you know? You are his son and even you do not know how he died. You were not even born when it happened."

Dante said nothing. In his mind a voice was screaming for him to kill this man – no, demon – that was sitting so coolly in front of him. Strike him down and avenge his father. Was Mephistopheles telling the truth though? Was he the one who had killed Sparda in the end? True enough, Dante did not know how his father had ultimately met his demise, nor had he really given it much thought.

Mephisto continued, watching Dante without blinking. "Your father and I were old comrades. An oracle foretold his victory against Mundus and so I sided with him. I hedged my bets however, in case it was wrong, and admittedly Sparda largely attained victory without my aid. Nevertheless I came with him to earth. But where he saw defenceless humans to protect, I saw weak-willed insects ready to exploit and control. And so I have. Uroboros has existed in some form or other for the last two thousand years, harnessing the power of the devils to further my goals."

Dante stared at the monocle in his hands, the thing that, according to Mephisto at least, had once belonged to his father. With his free hand he drummed his fingers on the counter, all thought of Strawberry Sundae forgotten.

"Why didn't my father try and stop you in all that time then?"

"He never knew," Said Mephisto "We went our separate ways. The Earth is a big place and there was much animosity towards our kind so soon after the war…"

Something inside of Dante flinched at his mention of 'our kind', but he said nothing.

"I kept out of sight. I made deals with humans who craved power. Humans like Arius. I used them to front my schemes, and when people like yourself came to stop them and succeeded, they left in the misguided belief that they had eliminated the real threat."

Dante cocked his head. "And now? You've moved front stage and centre. No more patsies. What changed?"

"The Temple of Ages that you uncovered – I knew then that the way was clear for my final plan to be put into motion. Now, with the powers of the Oracle at my disposal, the wheels are turning and _nothing_ can stop them…"

Dante set the monocle down and gave a short, mirthless laugh. "That's what they all say. Overconfidence gets them all in the end. Well, that and _me_ of course…"

Mephisto raised a hand and pressed a finger against the middle of his forehead. As he did so his eyes glowed with a golden light momentarily, light that glittered in the same way as the sands that flowed through the Watcher statues.

"You are forgetting," he said "I am an oracle now. I can see the future. I have seen yours, and I know that this is where you die. By my hand."

Dante smirked. "Yeah, that's what Agent Smith said to Neo. That movie ended badly for him as I recall."

Mephisto didn't smile back. He lowered his hand and reached again into the folds of his grey jacket. "Still you laugh. I have another souvenir however that may yet wipe the smile from your face." He withdrew his hand and set a small wooden box down upon the bartop, next to the monocle.

Dante stared at it. He recognised it at once and his face went white. He reached across the counter and grasped the lid with both hands and gently opened the box. A sweet musical melody started up unsteadily from the inside, causing a painful lump to rise in his throat as memories assailed his mind, brought forth by the familiar haunting jingle.

"My mother." He said coldly. "You were the one. The one who killed her."

Mephistopheles smiled.

"Mundus demanded it of me, when he resurrected. My act of redemption to the King of Hell. In truth he was more concerned with eliminating you and your brother. Sparda's human wife was nothing. She simply … got in the way."

Dante lunged across the bartop, hands outstretched ready to grab the smiling devil around the throat and crush the life from him. Mephisto instantly turned into a cloud of ethereal black smoke, which evaporated into nothing.

Outside, thunder rolled so heavily that the glasses and bottles behind Dante shook and rattled, some of them sliding onto the ground and shattering. Dante looked around, bewildered and angry at the devils sudden departure. He snatched up _Ebony_ and glanced about, his face a mask of fury.

"Where are you? Show yourself you coward!"

He was answered by more thunder, even stronger than before, followed by a heavy patter of rain upon the roof and windows that built in intensity with every passing moment. With a snarl of rage Dante slammed his fist into the counter, crushing it in two and sending splintered wood flying in all directions. The music box clattered to the ground and lay amongst the dried bloodstains and shattered glass, still playing its soothing melody.

Dante stepped over the wrecked bar and thrust his free hand out. The Rebellion, still buried in the pinball machine, trembled for a moment and then sprang into his outstretched hand.

"Mephistopheles! SHOW YOURSELF!" He demanded, swinging the sword that had once belonged to his father. Suddenly a massive bolt of lightning exploded from the sky and struck the roof of the bar, blasting it into a thousand splintered pieces that rained down on the devil hunter. Thick curtains of real rain joined the sawdust and burnt wood, cascading down about Dante, who ignored it all.

He stared intently through the carnage, watching and waiting. He didn't wait long. Amidst the chaos of the devastated building black smoke materialised half a dozen feet away, revealing the grim form of Mephisto. Dante raised _Ebony_ and fired, his pistol blazing away, the flare of the gunshots lighting up the dark night.

Even as he appeared, Mephisto had raised his own hand, causing the bullets to swerve around him and strike the wall behind him. A moment later an invisible force hit Dante, lifting him off his feet and hurling him backwards. He felt his shoulders slam into the door, which shattered as he crashed into it and carried straight on through into the building across the street. The flimsy plaster and wooden wall gave way, and Dante finally skidded to a halt on the dirty tiled floor of a disgusting public restroom.

"Ouch." He said, picking himself up. As he brushed shards of glass and pieces of wet plaster from his jacket, he stared out through the Dante-shaped hole he had made and saw Mephisto standing in the street. The rain lashed down like a falling ocean about him, yet not a single drop of moisture touched him.

"You!" Dante snarled, lifting the Rebellion and pointing it at the grey spectre. "You destroyed my family! And now – now I am going to destroy you!"

Mephisto raised his hand again, this time bent at the elbow instead of fully outstretched. There was a burst of black smoke and crimson flames outlined with red lightning that enveloped his hand. When it faded he was clutching a long sword that gleamed with a mirror finish.

"Sparda was ten times the warrior you are," he said brandishing the weapon, "and he was no match for me. What makes you think you will be?"

Dante was done talking. He holstered _Ebony_, gripped the Rebellion sword in both hands and charged out into the rain. He swung the weapon and their swords clashed as more lightning exploded in the heavens above…


End file.
